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Peaseblossom and cTWustardseed 







Peaseblossom 

cylND 

cTWustardseed 


BY 

GRACE SQUIRES 

cA uthor of “Little cTVI ildred’s Secret,” etc. 


illluotratrit bg 

DIANTHA W. HORNE 



BOSTON 

iana lEatw ^ QIampang 

PUBLISHERS 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Cooies Received 

JUL 7 1906 

fl Copyrieht Entry ^ 

O L'v^o 

/ JCLASS ^ XXc. No. 
COPY B. 




. A 


r\ 


> ^ • 
r 

V 


Copyright, / 906, hy 

‘Dana Estes & Company . 


aU rtgtts rcserbetJ 


PEASEBLOSSOM AND 
MUSTARDSEED 


< < 

i 

f , c 



Printed by THE COLONIAL PRESS, 
C. H. Simonds <5^* Co., Boston, U.S.A. 


Contents 


Chapter 



Page 

I. 

Peaseblossom and Mustardseed 

. 

II 

II. 

Nanna and the Magic Bill . 

. 

40 

III. 

King Oberon’s Visit . . . . 

. 

73 

IV. 

Mustardseed and the Castle 

. 

100 

V. 

Peaseblossom Awaits Mustardseed’s Return 

135 

VI. 

A Midsummer Night^s Dream 

. 

160 

VII. 

Nanna^s Crown 

. 

189 

VIII. 

The Prayer’s “Amen” 

, 

215 









Peaseblossom and 
cTVIustardseed 


CHAPTER I 

PEASEBLOSSOM AND MUSTARDSEED 

X T was a very shabby house 
in a very shabby street, 
and the room up two 
long flights, of course you 
would expect to be shabby. Shabby it 
certainly was from the threadbare car- 
pet to the dingy ceiling; from the 
dizzy wall-paper to the well-worn 
chairs; even the geranium on the win- 
dow-sill seemed struggling for life, and 


T^easeblossom and <^ustardseed 


a yellow pup that dozed in a subdued 
bunch seemed, from his abbreviated 
tail and scarred ears, to have had 
shabby experiences with life, too. 

One object, however, was not shabby, 
— the tiny personage who stood in a 
listening attitude in the room’s centre. 
She was seven, and she was radiant. 
Her golden-brown eyes peered expec- 
tantly from out the waves of golden- 
brown hair, which she brushed ruth- 
lessly aside to incline a sea-shell ear. 
But the approaching steps passed on. 

“ No, Moth and Cobweb, it’s not 
Mustardseed. Be patient, fairies; he’ll 
come anon!” Yet, for all her encour- 
aging words, there was disappointment 
in the little voice, and she gave Moth 
[ 12 ] 


T^easeblossom and <^ustardseed 


an impatient shake, and boxed Cob- 
web’s ears for dropping her golden 
crown. Then came repentance, and 
she kissed the long-suffering dollies, 
and smoothed their spangled skirts, 
and glanced down at her own. 

Elfish, indeed, she looked, for the 
little skirts were pinned up high, very 
high, and the small black legs were 
laced with many rounds of gay ribbon; 
a pair of paper wings fluttered airily, 
and an imposing pasteboard crown sat 
jauntily aloft, and cast golden shadows 
on the lovely wavy hair. Certainly she 
was a charming little creature, bewitch- 
ing enough to be the leader of a very 
large and loyal following of fairies, but 
just now she was only Peaseblossom, 

[13] 


T^easehlossom and cM^mtardseed 


and not till necessity compelled would 
she assume the role of Titania. 

She would not be Titania to-day, at 
least, for Titania, Queen of the Fairies, 
and King Oberon were already reign- 
ing in royal state. They were en- 
throned by the headboard, with folds 
of counterpane about their portly per- 
sons, which any one with half an eye 
could see was ermine. They were the 
pillows, each sitting upright, with a rib- 
bon drawn tight about the upper part 
to make a neck and head, — and a mar- 
vellously large and intelligent head it 
made, and the golden crowns were a 
perfect fit. 

Snuffles, the little yellow dog, so 
named because he had an impediment 

[14] 


T^easehlossom and <^ustardseed 


in his breathing apparatus, assumed 
the role of Bottom, and a most realistic 
and obliging ass he made. 

Only one member of this fairy troupe 
was wanting, and that was Mustard- 
seed. He lived next door in the Char- 
ity Home for Children, for Mustard- 
seed was poor. He had neither father 
nor mother, nor friends, — nobody to 
love him, — only Peaseblossom. 

It was very sad to be poor and to 
live in a Charity Home, thought Pease- 
blossom. She and Nanna were not 
poor in her brown eyes, and indeed 
they were not. The shabby little room 
held all that was most precious in life, 
love, cheer, and contentment. 

She and Nanna adored each other. 

[15] 


T^easeblossom and ^JliCmtardseed 


From the good-by kisses and bear hugs 
of the morning to Nanna’s return at 
night, each hour of the day was glori- 
fied by the thought of the home-com- 
ing. 

She came when the little French 
clock said six, and that was after the 
sparrows had said good night, and 
Buzz had crawled under a dark leaf, 
and the sun had sunken down, down 
ever so far — clear to the Land of No- 
where. 

She and Nanna had lived together 
ever so long, ever since papa and 
mamma had been gathered to their 
fathers, and that was before their go- 
ing could leave any pain in their little 
girl’s heart. They were in heaven, and, 

[i6] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


since she had Nanna, how could she 
miss them? 

Nanna went out sewing, and her 
sewing paid for the shabby room and 
its guardian fairy. She was very, very 
slight, was Nanna, with a narrow, com- 
pressed chest, and large, overbrilliant 
eyes, and a faint pink flush on her thin 
cheeks. Sometimes she coughed, — a 
cruel cough, — and then the pink 
cheeks grew pinker, and the brilliant 
eyes more brilliant still, and Pease- 
blossom ran for a glass of water, and 
held it lovingly to the thin, red lips, 
and nestled her lovely little head 
against Nanna. When it was over, 
they laughed; it was such a joke, this 
cough, just like hiccoughs or sneezing 

[17] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^astardseed 


or any other silly thing. For Nanna 
never was sick. Every morning she 
said good-by and went cheerfully to 
work, the very hottest days in summer 
and the very coldest days in winter, 
for loyal souls kept her well employed, 
and never let her see how heavy the 
needle was growing in her weak hands. 
Of such is the kingdom of heaven. 

And the little girl, what did she do 
all those long days alone in the shabby 
room? Oh, she led a charmed life, for 
Peaseblossom was a dream-child. Her 
imaginative little mind could spin 
faster than a spider, and in a woven 
web of fancy she lived all day. She 
was living in it now, of course, with 
these fluttering wings and golden 

[i8] 


T^easehlossom and ^Mustardseed 


crown, and it only needed Mustard- 
seed for the fairy rites to begin. 

He should be here by now, so said 
the little French clock, for one hand 
was on four and the other on twelve, 
which meant that school was out. 

Peaseblossom pushed the cricket to 
the window and stood high on her 
ankle-ties, peering down into the street 
below. No Mustardseed. Only a dirty 
court, a dirty alley, and several dirty 
children. Then round the corner came 
a wavering steeple of kindling-wood 
four bunches high. It seemed alive, for 
no head nor guiding arms were visible, 
only two little black legs, which looked 
like the kindling-wood’s own. 

Peaseblossom stood higher, and flat- 

[19] 


T^easehlossom and <^ustardseed 


tened her tiny nose against the window 
glass. “ It’s a wood nymph ! ” she 
laughed, ‘‘ or a dryad. Or perhaps it’s 
the apple-seed I planted last night 
grown like Jack’s Bean Stalk! ” 

On the kindling - wood wavered, 
mounted the steps, kicked open the 
door, then down it crashed, and the 
little black legs took to flight over 
the steps again, through the court 
and alley, up, up, up into the shabby 
room. 

“ Oh, Mustardseed ! I am so glad to 
see you! ” 

Mustardseed was glad, too. He 
hugged his fairy, regardless of wings, 
and smiled all over his little pinched 
face. 


[20] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^mtardseed 


‘‘ But you’re late,” said Peaseblossom. 

“ Nurse made me do the* errands. 
Such a heap! They kept coming and 
coming every time she thought. She’s 
such a fiend, and those hairpins she 
does her crimps up on look just like 
horns ! ” 

‘‘ Poor Mustardseed,” said Pease- 
blossom, setting a golden crown upon 
the golden head. “ Has it been a hard 
day? ” 

“ It’s been a porridge day, and things 
always go wrong when I start out with 
porridge.” 

“ Then you shall be Bottom instead 
of Snuffles, dear, and I’ll say: 

“ * Feed him with apricots and dewberries, 

With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries,* 

[ 21 ] 


^easeblossom and ^Mlustardseed 


or we might play the Witches and have 
a caldron': 

“ ‘ Boil and bubble, 

Toil and trouble ! ' 

only we’ll put in nice things, and truly 
eat. See, Nanna left us these!” and 
the fairy approached a low chair, 
waved the yard-stick menacingly over 
its red napkin, and lifted it with magic 
grace. 

Two chocolate mice guarded the por- 
tals of a palace of puff paste and cream, 
while a moated grange of yellow 
banana fenced in both mice and pal- 
ace. 

Mustardseed’s empty little stomach 
gave a sympathetic rumble, and he 
looked with wide, hungry eyes at the 
[22] 


^easeblossom and <^ustardseed 


golden cream cakes. Being a carnal 
boy, he forgot the proprieties of fairy- 
land, and proposed that they lunch at 
once. 

“ But you don’t want to leave the 
Home?” continued Peaseblossom, 
Mustardseed’s disgust of life still lin- 
gering in her mind. 

“Nope!” replied Mustardseed, suc- 
cinctly, his truly magic despatch of 
the puff paste precluding further 
speech. 

“ Because if you should leave the 
Home it would mean — ” 

“ It would mean that I’d be bound 
out again! That’s what it would 
mean ! ” 

“ And to be bound out is — 

[23] 


T^easeblossom and cM^ustardseed 


“To be bound out is to be tooken 
off by some horrid man, most generally 
it’s a farmer man, and made to work 
like blazes.” 

“ It was a farmer man who took you 
before, wasn’t it? ” 

“ He was a farmer man, and a hen 
man, and a dog man all at once. He 
took dogs to board while their mas- 
ters went on their vacations, and he 
hatched out chickens, ink - baker he 
called it, just baked them sort of 
slow.” 

“ And you had to feed the ugly dogs, 
and mind the chickens — ” 

“ The brooders were the worst,” 
sighed Mustardseed, with an experi- 
enced air. “ That’s where they put the 

[24] 


^easeblossom and cM^ustardseed 


chicks to keep them warm, because, 
you see, they haven’t any mothers to 
cuddle under.” 

“ Poor darlings ! and no Aunt 
Nannas, either! ” 

“ I had to tend the lamps that kept 
their little houses warm, and if I turned 
the wicks too high, they died; and if 
I didn’t turn them high enough, they 
up and died just the same.” 

“ And every time a chicken died you 
got — ” 

“A beating!” 

“ Poor Mustardseed,” said the fairy, 
with a gentle caress. “ I wish I could 
kill that man.” 

“ And then when I pulled the weeds 
I got a backache, and when I rested 
[ 25 ] 


^easeblossom and <^ustardseed 


to stop the backache I got another 
beating.” 

“ And you got a beating when you 
ate too much, and the woman said 
you were a — ” 

“ Gor-man! ” said Mustardseed, with 
emphasis. 

“ Now comes the nice part, — and 
then one day the minister called, and 
he found you behind the windmill cry- 
ing, and you told him — ” 

“ And I told him I was beaten all the 
time, and he said I should be tooken 
away, and Nurse came out and took me 
away, and I’ll never, never leave the 
Home again.” 

‘‘ Never? ” 

“ Never! ” 


[26] 


^easeblossom and ^M^mtardseed 


“ But Mustardseed, supposing an- 
other man should come to take a boy, 
and should want you? ” 

‘‘ I’ll never go,” said Mustardseed. 
‘‘ I’ll run away! ” 

This was the climax toward which 
Peaseblossom had been leading the 
narrator. 

Though she knew the story by 
heart, she never failed to be thrilled 
by its climax. To run away! Think 
of the unnumbered dangers to be faced 
— the Ragman ! the Chinaman ! to say 
nothing of goblins and witches that 
peopled the unknown. 

As for Mustardseed, the known was 
sufficiently vivid to his mind without 
conjuring up goblins and witches. His 

[27] 


T^easeblossom and <y^ustardseed 


life had not been of the “ stuff that 
dreams are made of ’’ — far from it, 
poor little man. Perhaps that was why 
the shabby room was such a paradise 
to him, and the fairy at his side the 
symbol of all that was lovely and lov- 
ing. 

He liked to be harnessed into his 
spangled wings, to be decked with the 
golden crown, and to live in an un- 
certain mist for whole moments. It 
answered something his little heart had 
unconsciously longed for. He liked to 
be Mustardseed and not Tom. Tom 
was a very ugly name, Nadine thought, 
and in return Tom thought Nadine 
uglier still — just like oleomargarine, 
of which he knew far more than was 
[28] 


T^easehlossom and ^Jt^Custardseed 


pleasant to remember. That is why 
Tom became Mustardseed, and Nadine, 
Peaseblossom. 

He adored her, this little brown-eyed 
nymph at his side, adored her with all 
the ardor of seven unloved years. 
Here he forgot the knocks, the neglect, 
the hated porridge, and became in his 
own, and in his little nymph’s eyes, a 
winged cherub. 

In truth, Mustardseed did not look 
like a cherub under the most favorable 
circumstances, but he had a piquant 
little face, with a saucy little mouth, 
and a saucy little nose that had a wil- 
derness of freckles playing tag on its 
end. Intelligent eyes, too, had Mus- 
tardseed, and a crop of golden hair 


^easeblossom and f^ustardseed 


that would have left many a vain 
woman weak with envy. 

Yet, if Mustardseed's face was not 
altogether cherubic, his heart certainly 
more than made up for this deficiency. 
A bigger, more loyally loving one 
never beat under either gingham or 
velvet. Altogether a fine little chap, 
with a winning trustfulness that not 
even seven hard years had been able 
wholly to shatter. 

Philosophical, too, was Mustardseed, 
for when the matron was cross, the 
boys quarrelsome, the porridge cold 
and distasteful, he thought of Pease- 
blossom. Here were sympathetic ears 
to hear his pain, a loving little heart 
that made no secret of its love, and 


T^easeblossom and J}^Custardseed 


fairy rites that lifted him out of him- 
self into an enchanted land. 

Peaseblossom had mothered him 
with touching devotion ever since she 
had first descried him among the 
Charity children. She had been stand- 
ing by the window looking down into 
the dining-room of the Home. She 
liked to watch the children file in at 
meal-time. But this night her atten- 
tion had been at once called to a little 
white face pressed against an upper 
window. 

“ It’s a new boy,” thought Pease- 
blossom, “ and he’s lonely, just as they 
all are at first, poor child.” 

Fascinated she watched, for one lit- 
tle finger was doing mystic work that 


T^easehlossom and S^ustardseed 


puzzled her. His hot breath had 
clouded the window-glass, and in this 
mist he was thoughtfully tracing, “ I 
a-m s-a-d.” 

“ Little boy, don’t be sad! ” Up flew 
the window and down floated the 
sweet voice. 

Mustardseed (only he was Tom 
then) glanced up and smiled his de- 
light. She was so lovely, and he had 
never seen wings before. 

“Who are you?” he queried, gal- 
lantly. 

“ I am Peaseblossom, the fairy. 
Come over and you can be in Titania’s 
train, too.” And he had come, and had 
never failed to come since. 

That was ever so long ago, and the 

[32] 


^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


story he had been reciting had been 
recited many, many times. Mustard- 
seed finished his chocolate mouse and 
his story together, and sprang sud- 
denly to his feet. 

“ ‘ Hail! hail! hail! ’ let’s . begin 
there, and you must take King Oberon 
away. He and Titania are mad, you 
said, till she gives him the little change- 
ling child.” 

“What is a changeling child?” in- 
quired Peaseblossom, in an unusually 
practical moment. 

“ A changeling child is a child that 
changes its home a great deal. I’m 
a changeling child ! ” said Mustard- 
seed. “ This one is bound out to 
Titania now, like I was to the farmer.” 


T^easehlossom and ^M^ustardseed 


Peaseblossom’s eyes dilated with 
pleasure. Here was a new interpre- 
tation of Mustardseed’s past that 
wrapped it in a dreamy glamour. It 
was so delightful to know a real 
changeling ! 

“ Let’s hurry — now King Oberon 
will get even with the Queen for not 
giving him the child, and we’ll play he 
has just squeezed the love-juice into 
her eyes,” said Mustardseed, wringing 
a banana peel over the sleeping queen, 
and chanting: 

“ ‘ What thou seest when thou dost wake, 

Do it for thy true love take; 

Love and languish for his sake ; 

Be it ounce, or cat, or bear, 

Pard, or boar with bristled hair, 

In thy eye that shall appear 
When thou wakest, it is thy dear.* 

[ 34 ] 


T^easeblossom and ^TiCmtardseed 


“ Now, when she wakes up she’s got 
to love the ugliest thing she sees, which 
is Snuffles — I mean. Bottom, the 
ass. 

In answer to the heroic waving of 
the fairy wand, which inadvertently 
knocked off the Queen’s crown, for the 
little arms were very short, and the 
wand very long, the Queen awoke, and 
seemingly directed a love-lorn glance 
at the yellow pup blissfully snoring by 
her side. 

“She’s seen him! Wake Bottom 
up ! ” urged Mustardseed, in a stage 
whisper. 

Peaseblossom blew into the fuzzy 
ears, whereat Bottom rolled over on 
his back, and lay there with his four 

[35] 


T^easehlossom and cM^ustardseed 


short legs limp and imploring in the 
air. 

“ She’s most ready to call the 
fairies ! ” whispered Peaseblossom, 
with suppressed excitement, as she 
opened out a huge umbrella, having 
assumed the role of stage-manager for 
the moment. 

‘‘ See ! Bottom is on his feet, and is 
shaking himself. He doesn’t want to 
be loved, he wants to go away dread- 
fully!” squealed Mustardseed, en- 
tranced with the realism of the scene. 
“Now play Titania is saying: 

“ ‘ Out of this wood do not desire to go ; 

Thou shah remain here, whether thou wilt or no. 

I am a spirit of no common rate ; 

And I do love thee ; therefore go with me ; 

ril give thee fairies to attend on thee; 

[ 36 ] 


T^easeblossom and f^ustardseed 


And they shall fetch thee jewels from the deep, 

And sing, while thou on pressed flowers dost 
sleep. 

Peaseblossom ! Cobweb! Moth! Mustardseed ! ’ ” 

This last line was shouted in a com- 
manding tone more suggestive of a 
wrathful giant than a fairy queen. 
However, its volume may be accounted 
for by the fact that it proceeded from 
the depths of the forest where the 
fairies had retired to be in readiness for 
the grand entrance. And a very grand 
entrance it was, with much fluttering 
of wings, and waving of wands, even 
Moth and Cobweb being, of course, in 
the following. 

Peaseblossom dropped solidly on her 
knees, and even crept a little distance 
on them to salute her queen, while 

[ 37 ] 


^easeblossom and ^Mustardseed 


Mustardseed knocked his forehead 
three times on the floor in truly Ori- 
ental fashion. 

Then, sad to relate, just as the fairy 
band were about to begin their attend- 
ance on Bottom, an attendance that 
would lead up to the grand finale of 
hiding under the umbrella toadstool, 
the bell of the Charity Home sounded, 
— a summons that admitted of no de- 
lay. 

The fairies dropped their arms de- 
jectedly and faced each other. The de- 
scent from fairy-land to Every-day 
Land was abrupt, painfully abrupt. 

‘‘ Never mind,” whispered Peaseblos- 
som, recovering. “ There’ll still be 
time to hide a minute. Play some dan- 
[38] 


^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


ger is at hand, and Titania is ringing 
the bluebells and saying: 

“ ‘ Fairies, be gone ! ’ ” 

The words proved magic. In an in- 
stant the room was apparently de- 
serted; only the glint of a fallen crown 
and a tiny lace ruffle showed the fairies 
under their toadstool hiding. 


[39] 


CHAPTER II 


NANNA AND THE MAGIC BILL 


!D 


^USTARDSEED had sped 
down the stairs, through 
the court and alley, up into 
the Home. Like the wind 
sped Mustardseed, for all he had left 
his fairy wings behind. 

Peaseblossom crept out from her 
toadstool hiding, lighted the lamp, — 
a fearful act that taxed all her small 
courage, — carried her little beacon 
carefully to the window, and peered 


out. 


[40] 


^anna and the ^M^agic Bill 


Yes, he was safe! No witch had car- 
ried him off on her broom while he 
was making the alley’s perilous pas- 
sage. She could see him filing in with 
the other children to supper. He was 
nearing the window now. In a minute 
he would glance out and up at her 
signal-tower. There he was, and the 
saucy little mouth was blowing a kiss 
to the brown-eyed pilot. 

Peaseblossom turned back to the 
room, no longer a fairy. She would 
be a little vandal for the next half-hour. 
First came King Oberon and his wife. 
Queen Titania. They were ruthlessly 
dethroned, despoiled of their crowns, 
and beheaded; the sleeping Bottom 
unceremoniously swept to the floor, 

[41] 


T^easehlossom and <y^ustardseed 


the ermine cloaks shaken into a coun- 
terpane, which was pulled up very snug 
and smooth, and the pillows were 
where they should be when they were 
not King and Queen. 

As to the. fairy, she, too, was de- 
spoiled, shorn with magic speed of 
wings, crown, and spangles, and only 
a very small girl in a pink print tier 
was left. A very tousled little girl, 
to judge from the glass’s reflection, for 
the crown had rumpled the golden- 
brown hair, and the chocolate mouse, 
as is the way with mice, had left un- 
mistakable traces. A towel’s end was 
very cautiously moistened, the brown 
eyes closed tight, the rosebud mouth 
got lost in a pucker — and it was over; 
[42] 


^anna and the ^Magic Bill 


a few brandishings of Nanna’s big 
brush, and Peaseblossom tipped back 
the mirror again and retired satisfied. 

It had been such a busy day! From 
early morning, when she had helped 
Nanna off, till now there had been no 
moment’s idling. Helping Nanna off 
was a very important and exciting 
business, from the packing of her sew- 
ing-bag to the tying of her drab bonnet 
strings and last good-by kiss. A but- 
terfly kiss this, because by then Nanna 
was on the street and rounding the 
bend by the lamp-post, which carried 
her out of sight. 

Then a wilderness of importunate du- 
ties awaited Peaseblossom. There was 
Snuffles impatient for his breakfast, 

[ 43 ] 


T^easeblossom and cM^ustardseed 


and more impatient for his airing; 
Buzz, her pet fly, calling loudly for his 
sugar; the geranium choking with 
thirst, and the sparrows hopping up 
and down her sill and tapping inquir- 
ingly on the window-glass. It took 
hours to satisfy the clamorous wants 
of her family, for Peaseblossom usually 
got lost on the way and swallowed up 
in dreamland. It was so delightful to 
see Buzz preen his gorgeous wings on 
the sunlit end of a velvet leaf. She 
floated through a green forest herself 
the while on dazzling pinions. “ Some 
day. Buzz,” she said, “ I shall crop your 
painted wings to fan a moonbeam 
with ! ” Then Buzz would creep up, 
up, and hide in a calyx, and Peaseblos- 

[44 ] 


S\Canna and the S^agic Bill 


som crept, too, and hid in an acorn 
cup. 

If the expanse of sky visible from her 
one small window was not wide enough 
to dream on, there was the wall-paper 
and the checkered quilt. The quilt had 
597 squares to a count, and a most fas- 
cinating process this counting was. As 
for the wall-paper, it was simply fairy- 
land, with countless hobgoblins and 
toadstools and a wilderness of forest. 
She got lost in its tangles, and met 
with dreamy adventures which she re- 
lated to Snuffles, and Snuffles snored 
his appreciation. She liked Snuffles’s 
snore, and the tick-tack of the little 
French clock, and the cheep, cheep of 
her little draggle-tailed sparrows. 

[45] 


T^easehlossom and ^Mustardseed 


There was another sound she liked, 
too. It was Nibble, the most important 
of all her varied following. He was a 
mouse, — only not chocolate. He lived 
under the what-not in a fine roomy 
mansion of his own building. A very 
sociable mouse was Nibble, for his 
travels were not confined to the night. 
He scampered round the room every 
day, to the great delight of its mistress, 
and sometimes he sat on his little 
haunches and trimmed his whiskers. 
He was a very plump little fellow, 
and certainly had no need of hunting 
through the trash-basket, for he dined 
royally off cracker balls, which Pease- 
blossom obligingly chewed up for him 
and rolled into tempting shape. These 
[46] 


[I\Canna and the tragic Bill 


she arranged round his domicile, and 
watched patient hours to see a little 
quivering nose whisk one away. She 
longed to follow and be introduced to 
the home life of mice land. It was so 
mysterious ! Sometimes it seemed as if 
she did grow smaller, and she sat 
breathlessly still and waited. Once she 
thought a tail had sprouted, and it was 
very disappointing to discover it to 
be only her apron string! Sometimes 
she poured water down his hole in 
case he should be thirsty after dining. 
A very little at first, a great deal at 
last, which may have accounted for the 
treacherous state of the ceiling in the 
room below. 

Yes, Peaseblossom was a dream- 

[47] 


T^easehlossom and f^ustardseed 


child. But she had occasional practical 
moments when Moth and Cobweb be- 
came Annabella May and Matilda Jane. 
Then, with one in each arm, she went 
abroad to give her family an airing. 
Sometimes Mustardseed joined her. 
Then they were husband and wife, and 
Mustardseed carried the children. 

But more often Peaseblossom took 
her airing alone, for no school claimed 
her. She was far too precious for 
Nanna to trust to the dangers of the 
city streets. In truth, she never wan- 
dered far from the stone stoop of her 
home. This had eight steps and wide 
side landings. Quite high, too, were 
these landings, at least, high enough 
to seem perilous. Here she sat with 
[48] 


3^anna and the tragic Bill 


Snuffles and played Humpty Dumpty, 
and grew dizzy when she looked below 
and thought of all the king’s men try- 
ing to put her back again. Sometimes 
she played Ride a Cock Horse to Ban- 
bury Cross, and then the stoop became 
a winged steed, and she and Snuffles 
held on tight. 

Being high, it at all times made a 
good outlook station in times of dan- 
ger. Here she could spy the ragman 
almost as soon as his stentorian tones 
floated round the corner. And very 
welcome it was to Peaseblossom to spy 
him. His big, bulging bag seemed to 
her painfully suggestive of stolen chil- 
dren, and, when he came too near, she 
deserted her stone pedestal and sought 
[ 49 ] 


^easeblossom and cMustardseed 


safety under the cavernous depths of 
Nanna’s bed. 

Then there was the blind man who 
wheeled a big leather valise, and pushed 
a cane ahead with which to guide him- 
self. He was worse than the ragman, 
— far worse. One might scream in a 
rag-bag, but no stifled cry could ever 
float out from this tightly clasped 
leather. She longed for a taste of Alice 
in Wonderland’s magic that she might 
grow very, very small, and so creep in 
the crack and count these stolen chil- 
dren. Or else, with the same magic, 
to grow tall, and taller still, clear to 
the top of the telegraph-pole, and 
frighten this peddler horribly. But she 
forgot, — he was blind, — and it would 
[50] 


3\(janna and the tragic Bill 


be a pity to waste so much size on a 
blind man. 

There was the feather-duster man, 
too, of whom she did not wholly ap- 
prove, and the Chinaman, with his long 
black queue, and his slanting bead eyes, 
and his turned-up toes. She had met 
him unexpectedly once, on her way to 
the apple woman at the corner, and, 
like Humpty Dumpty, all the king’s 
horses and all the king’s men could 
never drag her past his den again. 

But not all terror was this outdoor 
life. There was the hurdy-gurdy man, 
for whom she sometimes danced; and 
the hand-organ man with his distract- 
ing little monkey. He wore velvet 
breeches and a plumed hat like Romeo. 

[51] 


T^easehlossom and t^^ustardseed 


She loved to feel his tiny hand against 
her own, and to see her penny slip into 
his ridiculous little pocket. And he 
had such manners, too! for he tipped 
his cap as gallantly as did Mustardseed 
when she was Cinderella and he was 
the Prince come to woo her. 

But most engrossing of all her busy 
day were the preparations for the after- 
noon. Almost before you knew it, 
school was out, and Mustardseed with 
her. Then they “ dressed ’’ and acted. 
Sometimes they were the lost Babes 
in the Woods or the Princes in the 
Tower; sometimes they played Cinder- 
ella or Red Ridinghood. Mustardseed 
made a terrifying wolf in Nanna’s old 
fur jacket. As for Peaseblossom, she 
[52] 


lAC^nna and the ^M^agic Bill 


was charming enough in a pink calico 
waterproof, with her brown eyes and 
brown curls peeping out, to induce a 
whole forest of wolves from their hid- 
ing. 

So, busily the days passed, in dream- 
land mostly. Life might be hard 
enough later for the little girl, as 
Nanna well knew. If dreams could 
make it sunshine now, of dreams it 
should be. Every night Peaseblossom 
sat on her toadstool cricket, and Nanna 
gilded the day’s experiences, and read 
her dream - stories, — always dream- 
stories. This was Peaseblossom’s 
school. 

It was time now for Nanna to be 
here. Snuffles was holding his cold 

[ 53 ] 


T^easehlossom and ^T^Custardseed 


nose close to the door crack; the little 
French clock was growing excited, too, 
and tick-tacked louder and louder. As 
for Peaseblossom, her cheeks were 
flushed, and her eyes as brilliant as 
Nanna’s as she pressed her lovely little 
face against the lighted window and 
peered out. There was not much to 
see; it was very dark, and the shades 
of the Home were drawn. Yet, though 
it was dark to see out, it was not dark 
to see in. 

On the opposite side of the street a 
man was passing, a tall man in a long 
fur-lined ulster. His head was bent, 
deep in thought. Yet the beams from 
the lighted window flashed across his 
path, and he turned and faced it. 

[ 54 ] 


[J^Canna and the tragic Bill 


There it was, the dear little face, 
framed in its halo of shimmering hair, 
smiling out upon him. 

As sharply as the shot of a pistol the 
vision pierced his thought, and he 
turned blindly and hurried on, his ears 
ringing with the words : “ And a little 
child shall lead them. And a little 
child shall lead them.” 

“ Lead where, oh. Lord? From hope 
into sorrow! From sorrow into hope! ” 
In his speed he knocked into a little 
woman, though it was her fault partly, 
because her eyes were on the window, 
too. He reached out to steady her, 
then turned to go, when a cough 
turned him back. Its violence fright- 
ened him, partly responsible as he was, 

[55] 


T^easeblossom and cM^mtardseed 


and her weakness when the paroxysm 
was over was pitiful. He offered her 
escort kindly, but she only smiled, and 
pointed proudly to the lighted window. 
“ I am almost home.’’ 

‘‘ The child? ” 

“ She is mine,” said Nanna. 

“ Madam, we are strangers, yet the 
child will make us kin for the moment. 
I shouldn’t have blundered into you but 
for her — I can’t explain, but the 
vision of her little face seemed like 
a beautiful ‘ amen ’ to a prayer in my 
heart. Give her — give her this for 
me, and tell her — a fairy sent it! ” 

He was gone, and Nanna was hurry- 
ing home with the strength joy gave 
her weakness. 


[56] 


3\Canna and the ^M^agic Bill 


Peaseblossom heard the key in the 
latch and rushed into the hall. Yes, it 
was Nanna, coming slowly, very slowly, 
with her hand on the banister rail. 
Now she was up one flight and resting. 
Peaseblossom danced with impatience, 
and leaned perilously far over the rail- 
ing. Snuffles leaned, too, and wagged 
his stub tail, and cocked his fuzzy little 
head to listen. 

“ Nanna, dear,” called the sweet lit- 
tle voice, “ don’t hurry. We’re wait- 
ing, waiting patiently.” 

Perhaps the sweet little voice was 
just the encouragement the weak limbs 
needed, for in another moment the 
wait was over, the little drab bonnet 
was within reach of the short arms, 

[57] 


T^easeblossom and <^ustardseed 


and Peaseblossom had flung herself 
over the banister. This was the mo- 
ment both had been longing for all the 
day, and if the little drab bonnet was 
somewhat the worse for the encounter, 
and the dimpled arms deprived Nanna 
of what little breath the stairs had 
left, who would not die so sweet a 
death? 

As for Snuffles, he, too, had his role 
to play. He had stood very high on 
his yellow legs, and had borne Nanna’s 
bag in triumph to the room. 

“Oh, Nanna! so many things have 
happened!” 

But this was not time for a recital 
of the day’s history. The excitement 
of dining came next, down-stairs in the 
[58] 


[J\Canna and the ^M»agic Bill 


basement, for Nanna and Peaseblossom 
boarded as well as lodged. 

Peaseblossom rescued the bag from 
Snuffles, and heroically laid it aside. 
She would not indulge one peep, 
though she knew its bulging sides held 
some surprise worth the knowing. 
They always did, and to-night she 
thought Nanna looked especially mys- 
terious. 

It was very difficult to eat uncon- 
cernedly, very difficult indeed, for 
Nanna’s eyes were strangely brilliant, 
and twice she winked at Peaseblossom 
from behind her biscuit. Peaseblossom 
was glad when it was over, and Nanna 
had toiled once again up the long 
stairs, and was at last in her rocking- 

[ 59 ] 


T^easeblossom and t^ustardseed 


chair. Peaseblossom flew for the little 
cricket, straddled its crimson sides, and 
pillowed her elbows in Nanna’s lap 
beside the bulging bag. 

“Well!” she said, imperiously. 

“ Well,” obeyed Nanna, with an in- 
fectious smile. “ It’s been such a day, 
Peaseblossom, I don’t know where to 
begin. Let me think. First I sewed 
at the Smiths’, and little Fanny — ” 

“ You’re not beginning at the best, 
are you?” interrupted Peaseblossom, 
with a shade of disappointment. 

“ The best, Peaseblossom, dear, is so 
surprising! But first, Fanny sent you 
this.” 

Peaseblossom took the little glass 
finger-bowl of moss and partridge vine, 
[60] 


3^anna and the cM^agic Bill 


and smiled with delight. Here was 
another care. Something to watch, to 
tender, to love. Five scarlet berries 
with their little mouths all screwed up 
as if they had tasted something very, 
very sour, and how prettily the leaves 
were striped, and look at the dear little 
bonnet buds on the moss ! Such a 
charming woodland retreat in minia- 
ture. Already her fairy feet were 
dancing in imagination on this velvet 
greensward, and think how dearly 
Buzz would love this pretty elfin 
bower! Peaseblossom nestled it on the 
window-sill beside the struggling gera- 
nium, and danced back to Nanna. 

“ Next! ” 

“ Ne-xt,” continued Nanna, with 

[6i] 


^easeblossom and cJiiCustardseed 


skilled hesitancy, “ next Fanny’s 
mother baked you two little tarts.” 

“ The Queen of Hearts 
She made some tarts — ” 

laughed Peaseblossom. “ We’ll act 
that to-morrow, and Mustardseed shall 
be the thief ! ” The stylish frilled tarts 
were smelled of deliciously, the jelly 
sampled by just one flash of a little 
pink tongue, then Peaseblossom car- 
ried them off to their hiding. 

“ Next!” 

“ Next — let me think. Oh, yes, the 
spangles. Mrs. Smith ripped them off 
something. How grand they’ll be for 
your fairy dress, because we can sew 
them on, and they won’t fall off as the 
paper ones do.” 


[62] 


^anna and the ^M^agic Bill 


“ Then I’ll look like ‘ spangled star- 
light sheen/ ” said Peaseblossom dream- 
ily, running her fingers through the 
shining silver. “ How lovely, Nanna, to 
be all covered with little winking stars 
like the heavens ! ” Peaseblossom lin- 
gered in her dream, then awoke with a 
regretful start that sent the spangles 
fluttering to the floor. 

“ I most forgot, Nanna — I can’t 
wait another one — do tell me — ” 

“ There’s not another one to tell. Im- 
patience, — only the best. Peaseblos- 
som, think! I’ve met a fairy!” 

Over went the toadstool, and Pease- 
blossom bounded on Nanna’s lap. 

When? ” 

“ To-night! ” 


[63] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^mtardseed 


“ Where? ” 

“ By the lamp-post.” 

Peaseblossom flew to the window 
and peered out. 

‘‘ Had he wings? ” 

“ He must have, for he was going 
like the wind.” 

“ It was Puck ! ” whispered Pease- 
blossom, excitedly. “ He always goes 
like the wind. He put a girdle round 
the earth in forty minutes ! ” 

“ He bumped into me, you see, be- 
cause I was looking at you in the win- 
dow, and he was looking, too. He was 
very sorry, and so he sent you this. 
‘ Tell her a fairy sent it,’ he said.” 

Nanna dove into her bag, smoothed 
out the crumpled bill, and laid it in 

[64] 


^Aljanna and the tragic Bill 


Peaseblossom’s lap. Peaseblossom had 
seen many bills before. She and Nanna 
always counted out the money Satur- 
day night to pay the board. But Nan- 
na’s bills never had two figures in the 
corner like this. Peaseblossom took it 
silently, and examined it with con- 
cern. 

Slipping down from Nanna’s lap she 
pinned it up on the wall, and then 
stood off for a more critical survey. 

“ Nanna, will it spend? ” she queried, 
in an awestruck whisper. 

“ Bless you, it will spend like — 
magic.” 

“ Then I should like to buy Mustard- 
seed a sword, and I need a glass slip- 
per, and — ” but the end was lost. 

[65] 


T^easeblossom and ^JtiCustardseed 


Then, brightly, after a pause : 
“ Nanna, I have a thought. I think, 
if this is fairy money, perhaps if I save 
it it will bring me fairy luck, like the 
witch’s magic ninepence.” 

“ I pray that it may, dear heart. 
Save it, that is a wise little woman, 
and perhaps, since it’s a magic bill, 
Mustardseed’s sword will come just 
the same.” 

Peaseblossom stood with her little 
face bathed in smiles, radiant. What 
a day it had been! with a real change- 
ling child, a fairy walking the streets, 
and now this magic bill! She glanced 
at the clock unavoidably. At this time 
of day she and the little French clock 
were not on friendly terms. Mercy! 

[ 66 ] 


3\Ccinna and the ^M^agic Bill 


where had the moments gone? It was 
her bedtime clearly — long past. 

Peaseblossom reached for her night- 
dress, and backed up to Nanna to be 
unbuttoned and “ peeled,” a process 
full of rollicking delight. Then, 
wrapped in a shawl, she cuddled down 
in Nanna’s lap for the good-night story 
and rocking. So sweet a time, dear 
little vesper sparrow, nesting for the 
night. 

Nanna rocked quietly back and forth 
with the little head pillowed against 
her heart. The command for the 
night’s story would be forthcoming 
shortly, though its selection often took 
moments of deep consideration. When 
it came, Nanna would reach for the 

[67] 


T^easehlossom and ^J^Custardseed 


big Shakespeare book or the fairy-tales, 
according to the fiat that issued from 
that little rosebud mouth. 

This night the command was unusu- 
ally slow. Nanna glanced down. 
Peaseblossom’s eyes were closed, but 
the soft little hand had not relaxed its 
hold of Nanna’s. No, she was not 
asleep, for the brown eyes opened and 
smiled. 

“ Nanna, dear, I’ll not hear any story 
to-night, because I’m thinking with my 
thoughts. It’s so lovely to have fairies 
knocking right into you on the street, 
and — and — how pleased Mustardseed 
will be with his sword ! ” 

‘‘ He was over to-day? ” 

“ He’s always over. We played 

[ 68 ] 


3^anna and the tragic Bill 


fairies and he was truly Mustard- 
seed.” 

“ What dear times you have playing 
fairies together, Sweetie. And you’ll 
keep on playing fairies together, you 
and Mustardseed, when you go into the 
Home to live and Nanna — ” 

‘‘Don’t say it!” commanded the 
child, covering the thin lips with her 
tiny hands. “ You know your eyes will 
cry. I’ll say it for you, Nanna, dear. 
Some day Nanna will go to heaven 
with papa and mamma, and then Pease- 
blossom will go in the Charity Home. 
But I don’t think I ever shall go, 
Nanna, dear. I think most likely some 
fairy, like you met to-night, will carry 
me off to his castle.” 

[69] 


T^easeblossom and ^T^Custardseed 


Peaseblossom was used to this story. 
Nanna had always spoken of her going 
some day. Everybody did go sooner 
or later, just as papa and mamma had 
gone. There was no pain in the 
thought. Nanna never pictured it pain- 
fully, for, though her eyes sometimes 
filled, her lips always smiled, and Pease- 
blossom accepted it as it was pictured. 

Nanna wished just this, and then, 
when it came, it would be less of a 
shock, and perhaps less of a pain in 
her little girl’s heart. In the mean- 
time, if the thought got tangled up in 
fairy-land, so much the better. Most 
facts did get so tangled in Peaseblos- 
som’s mind, and were the sweeter for 
the tangle. 


[70] 


3\(janna and the tragic Bill 


Now the rocking was over, the shawl 
unwrapped, and Peaseblossom slipped 
to her knees, and folded her little hands 
on Nanna’s lap. 

No “ Now I lay me down to sleep ” 
for this dream-child, though Nanna 
had struggled patiently to introduce 
this propriety. That prayer meant 
nothing to Peaseblossom, and she cast 
it ruthlessly aside and made her own. 

“ Dear God,” lisped the childish 
voice, reverently, “ dear God, from 
whom all blessings flow, if you please 
and don’t mind, I’d rather be a fairy 
than a charity child when Nanna goes. 
I thank you for everything, dear God, 
for the fairy Nanna bumped into, for 
Mustardseed’s sword, which hasn’t 

[ 71 ] 

4 


T^easeblossom and <^ustardseed 


come yet, but is coming, for my pink 
geranium bloom, and — and the mouse. 
Amen.” 

A moment later Peaseblossom was 
in truth in dreamland. Nanna shaded 
the lamp, and her tired hands, never 
too tired to take patient stitches for 
her darling, were sewing silver span- 
gles on a tiny ruffled skirt. Sometimes 
she coughed, a cruel cough, and then 
she slipped into the closet and closed 
the door, that her little sleeping beauty 
might sleep on and be untroubled in 
her dreams. 


CHAPTER III 

KING OBERON’S VISIT 


room was as bright and 
M luxurious as that other was 

J dingy and shabby. From 
the outside you might have 
supposed it to be a conservatory, for 
the southerly bay was entirely of glass, 
and filled with ferns and flowers. 

Once inside, however, and you would 
have discovered your mistake. The 
crimson rug, the crimson leather chairs 
which encamped round a polished ma- 
hogany table, added to the sideboard 
[ 73 ] 


T^easeblossom and <^ustardseed 


of silver and glass, at once named the 
room for you. 

You discovered the purpose of that 
wide glass bay, too, for your glance 
swept over a sloping lawn dotted with 
flowering shrubs in May-day dress ; 
on over the lawns, clear to the water’s 
edge, your glance swept to the little 
lake that lay dimpling in the hollow, 
and to the six white swans that were 
floating on its breast. 

It was lovely, this room and its pros- 
pect. Wherever you glanced, whether 
within or without, there was a feast 
for the eye; from the velvet lawns to 
the velvet rugs, from the dazzling sky 
to the dazzling plate, everywhere were 
beauty, wealth, and luxury. Very dif- 

[74] 


King Oberons Visit 


ferent, very different indeed, from that 
shabby little room, with its only pros- 
pect a dirty court and a Charity Home 
for Children. Different, too, in one 
other respect, and in that the shabby 
room was the richer, for there were 
contentment and cheer, and here were 
neither. 

It was morning, when the room was 
at its flood-tide of sunshine; the win- 
dows were up, and nesting birds filled 
it with their singing, and flowering 
trees filled it with their fragrance. 
Everywhere was sunshine, except in 
the hearts of the man and wife seated 
at the table. There it was shadow. 

She was as dainty as the painting on 
her Dresden china, with a fair, sweet 

[ 75 ] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


face that 'you loved because the dark 
eyes were so sad and the mouth so sen- 
sitive. His eyes were sad, too, and 
tender whenever he glanced at the little 
woman opposite. She was toying with 
a cup of amber coffee with a listless- 
ness that made you long to drink it 
for her; he was breaking the tension 
of her silence by a cursory glance now 
and then at the morning paper. For 
all the apparent wealth, it seemed as 
if something were missing. The room 
looked as if it needed a child, — as if 
it had been used to a child’s sunny 
presence and laughter; for a tiny chair 
basked by the window, a silver cup and 
a Kate Greenaway plate could be 
plainly seen through the glass of the 
[ 76 ] 


King Oberons Visit 


china-closet, and on the mantel a tiny 
red shoe had toppled over on its side, 
as if the little fairy feet had outtripped 
their burden. In truth, the little feet 
had tripped away farther than father or 
mother could hope as yet to follow. 
She was a precious gift, but God only 
loaned her for a little while. Just a 
flash of joy and sunshine, and then the 
joy and sunshine were gone. 

Scarcely a word had been spoken, 
when suddenly into this silence swept 
a playful gust of wind. It eddied over 
the little chair and set it rocking, rock- 
ing gaily back and forth in the sunny 
bay. 

She could see in imagination the lit- 
tle figure with the golden head thrown 

[ 77 ] 


^easeblossom and cM^ustardseed 


back in laughter, and the tiny hands 
spread out to dimple in the sun. Back 
and forth, back and forth she watched, 
till her eyes filled and overflowed, and 
she turned away. 

Then came the rollicking laugh of a 
neighbor’s child dancing over the lawn. 
It floated in through the open window; 
it seemed to float from the wind-rocked 
chair. It died in a sob. 

“ Agnes ! ” implored the man, laying 
a gentle hand on the bowed head. 
“ Agnes, you will break my heart.” 

“ I will be brave to-morrow, — to- 
day it is just a year. To-morrow I will 
be brave again.” 

“ You will try and — fail. No grave 
of forgetfulness was ever yet digged 

[78] 


King Oherons Visit 


deep enough to bury love. We shall 
never forget by trying. She is gone, 
God knows why, but in his wisdom we 
must learn to trust.” 

Bravely the words were spoken, 
though the strong face was as tremu- 
lous as a woman’s. 

“ I do trust — but — ” 

“ I know, dear heart, but have we 
any right to let grief swallow up our 
lives? If we look about, perhaps — in 
another we shall lose our pain.” 

“ Perhaps.” 

“ Agnes, where do you think I have 
been spending my spare moments o£ 
late? Walking up and down, up and 
down a shabby street, past a Charity 
Home for Children.” 

[ 79 ] 


T^easeblossom and cM^ustardseed 


The brown eyes met his with a 
frightened glance. In so few words she 
knew his thought. Again came the 
happy little voice, again the rock of the 
little breeze-swept chair. Perhaps it 
was as much an “ amen ” to her thought 
as the vision of the little face at the 
lighted window had been to his, for 
she smiled bravely and nestled her hand 
in his. 

‘‘ You understand, Agnes? ” 

‘‘ I understand.” 

A moment later a span dashed up to 
the door, and there was only time for a 
Jieartfelt kiss and a whispered blessing. 

It was late that afternoon when Mr. 
Otis turned into the shabby street and 
stood opposite the Charity Home. 

[8o] 


King Oberons Visit 


School was out and a number o£ its 
children were playing before the door, 
— dirty, noisy, as unattractive as chil- 
dren could possibly be. He thought of 
Agnes and turned away. When he 
turned back his eyes absently glanced 
at the adjoining house, for its door was 
ajar, and a morsel of a boy, with a mop 
of yellow, frowzy hair, was leaping 
down the stone steps. 

Near the bottom he paused, glanced 
from his short legs to the brick walk, 
then valiantly swung his arms and 
took the three remaining steps at a 
bound. 

Mr. Otis at once crossed over, as if 
desperate to seize the more hopeful 
mood the boy had awakened. He 

[8i] 


T^easeblossom and ^hiCustardseed 


mounted the steps, rang the bell, then 
turned away, his heart beating as rebel- 
liously as it did years ago when he, lit- 
tle wretch, did this same act and fled 
laughing. 

When he turned back, She was there, 
framed in the sunny opening, — wings, 
crown, and spangles ! — and his heart 
beat faster. 

“ Dear heart,” he said, in a sup- 
pressed voice, “ where did you come 
from? ” 

Then the brown eyes smiled with de- 
light, and the little pink chin got lost 
in its dimple. 

“ ‘ Over hill, over dale, 

Through bush, through brier, 

Over park, over pale. 

Through flood, through fire, 

[82] 


King Oheron’s Visit 


I do wander everywhere, 

Swifter than the moon’s sphere ; 

And I serve the fairy queen, 

To dew her orbs upon the green ! ’ ” 

“ Do you live in the Home, fairy? ” 
“ No, I don’t yet. I shall some day 
when Nanna is gathered to her fathers. 
Just now I’m Peaseblossom, the fairy. 
Are you ever a fairy, sir? ” 

“No, dear; at least — ” 

“ There is one here on this street 
that bumped right into Nanna, and he 
saw me at the window, and, of course, 
being a fairy, he knew I was a fairy, 
too. I call him Puck, and he sent me 
something. If you’ll come up. I’ll show 
it to you.” 

And he went, in as much of a mist 
as ever enveloped Peaseblossom, follow- 

[833 


T^easeblossom and ^^ustardseed 


ing close on her tiny, spangled skirts. 
Up, up the dingy stairs, and into the 
shabby room. 

Snuffles flew at the intruder, and 
bared his mice teeth bravely. One sniff, 
and he wagged his tail and retired. 

“ There it is ! ” said Peaseblossom, 
pointing with her fairy wand to the bill 
flattened against the wall with its four 
crooked pins, safe, because no hand in 
all that motley household would ever 
rest ungently on the child. 

“ Here it is! You mustn’t touch, ex- 
cept with a wand, — it’s magic ! ” 

Mr. Otis stood off and examined the 
bill with marked respect. 

‘‘ I’m keeping it,” explained Pease- 
blossom, “ for luck. Then when Nanna 

[84] 


King Oberons Visit 


goes, I think the fairy who sent it will 
carry me off to live in his castle. I 
hope it will be glass with silver steps 
and a golden dome ! ” 

Mr. Otis listened with amazement to 
these astonishing words, and struggled 
to digest them. 

“ You see, if I spent it, it might 
break the charm, and the fairy couldn’t 
find me, and I’d have to go into the 
Home, after all.” Peaseblossom pointed 
next door, and her guest looked out 
and realized his mistake. He turned 
to go; instead he edged into a chair, 
feeling guilty of the trespass, wonder- 
ing who Nanna was, and at what time 
she was expected. He glanced nerv- 
ously at his watch, and, as if in answer 

[85] 


T^easehlossom and <5^ustardseed 


to his thought, Peaseblossom contin- 
ued: 

“ Mustardseed went early; he has 
to do heaps of errands, and Nanna . 
won’t come till six. We were playing 
fairies, but Queen Titania had only just 
called us, when Mustardseed had to 
go.” Peaseblossom glanced regretfully 
over her spangled person, and effaced 
herself in a moment’s thought. Then, 
with an inspiring smile, she awoke, 
saying: 

“ You might play it with me! ” 

Mr. Otis glanced over his elongated 
person, and wondered if the room were 
shrinking or if he were swelling. 

“ Do you think I’d make a good 
fairy? ” he said. 

[ 86 ] 


King Oberons Visit 


‘‘ I think your legs are a little long 
to hide under the toadstools, so you 
couldn’t be Mustardseed,” said Pease- 
blossom, taking a wide-eyed and crit- 
ical survey of her guest. You could be 
Bottom, though; your whiskers make 
you look quite like an ass. But there’s 
your ears! You see. Snuffles’s ears are 
better. Still,” apologetically, “ you’ll 
make a grand King Oberon if the 
crown will fit.” 

Mr. Otis bit his lip, but his eyes never 
left the little elf before him. It was 
a strange position, surely, and what 
had guided him to this attic room, and 
kept him pinioned there when propriety 
bid him go? It was the charm of the 
entrancing little figure before him. He 

[87] 


T^easeblossom and <5^ustardseed 


looked at her with wide, hungry eyes, 
and a great yearning in his heart. 
When she tripped near him, and waved 
her tiny arms, and gently laid the 
crown upon his head, and stooped to 
smile into his face, the blood pounded 
in his ears, and he longed to snatch her 
to his heart, and let her baby lips kiss 
away its emptiness and pain. 

“ Now,” said Peaseblossom, envelop- 
ing her guest in carefully arranged 
folds of ermine, “ now, of course, you 
are King Oberon, and you must long 
dreadfully to have the little child — ” 

“ Dear heart — I do long — so I shall 
play the role — ” 

‘‘No, no; you mustn’t touch me! 
I’m not your fairy; I’m in Titania’s 
[ 88 ] 


King Oberons Visit 


train, you- know. She’s your wife,” 
pointing to the pillow Queen. 

King Oberon turned abruptly, won- 
dering if any third person were a si- 
lent partner to this play, then smiled 
indulgently at his pale and portly 
Queen. 

“Oh, no, no! You mustn’t smile!” 
corrected the fairy, laying a caution- 
ing finger on the offending lips. “ Don’t 
smile. King Oberon! You and Ti- 
tania have just squabbled, like the 
Charity children in the court, and 
you’ve frightened all us fairies so we’re 
going to hide in the acorn cups ! ” 

King Oberon apologized for his indis- 
cretion, drew down the corners of his 
mouth with difficulty, and frowned, and 

[89] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


Peaseblossom, lingering to glory in its 
ferocity, flew at length in trembling 
fright, and ensconced herself under the 
rungs of the rocking-chair. 

She recovered quickly, however, and, 
having repaired, with the King’s assist- 
ance, the damage done her wings, swept 
a space clear of cricket and chairs, and 
reclined the Queen in the centre, pre- 
paratory to the next scene, which ap- 
parently was to be an imposing one. 

“ Now,” with an excited smile, “ now 
we fairies are going to sing Titania 
asleep, so that when you come she will 
be all ready to have the love- juice 
squeezed into her eyes.” 

Peaseblossom stepped into the cleared 
space before the recumbent Queen. 
[90] 


King Oberons Visit 


Slowly the little arms were raised, the 
wand gently swayed, and the childish 
voice rang out with astonishing sweet- 
ness: 

“ ‘ Philomel, with melody 
Sing in our sweet lullaby; 

Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby ; 

Never harm. 

Nor spell, nor charm. 

Come our lovely lady nigh ; 

So, good night, with lullaby.’ ” 

Now and then the spangled skirts 
were lifted, a little black foot lifted, too, 
and, with bewitching and indescribable 
grace, a fairy dance kept time to the 
song’s rhythm. King Oberon gazed 
entranced, bewitched, bewildered with 
the charm of this charmer. Whether 
Titania had succumbed or not, he, at 
least, felt drowsy with her sweet witch- 


T^easeblossom and cM^mtardseed 


ery. And who, pray, had trained this 
angel-child, or were all the graces hers 
by birthright? 

To a whisper the little voice hushed 
her “ good night,” and Peaseblossom 
dropped lightly on her toadstool. 

“ She’s most asleep! It’s the next 
fairy’s turn now. Mustardseed does 
this, but I’ll have to do it in a moment. 
I always dread to do his part because 
it remembers me he isn’t here ! ” 

“Why isn’t he here?” 

“ He had to go. He lives in the 
Home, you know.” 

“ The Home? Who is Mustardseed, 
dear? ” 

“ Mustardseed? ” inquired Peaseblos- 
som, indignantly. “ Mustardseed? ” 
[ 92 ] 


King Oberon^s Visit 


“ He’s a fairy, of course,” added King 
Oberon, hastily. 

“ Yes, he’s a fairy, but he’s some- 
thing more. King Oberon. Mustard- 
seed is a real changeling child ! ” 

“You don’t mean it!” 

“ Yes,” added Peaseblossom, with de- 
lighted confidence, “ he’s changed his 
home a great deal, you see. First he 
lived with his mother. She was lovely, 
and lay on her couch a great deal, and 
then he went to live in the Home. 
Then a farmer came and took him 
away. He was fearful fond of beating 
boys. King Oberon, and some day, 
when I’m a real powerful fairy, I’m 
going to do him mischief. Then Mus- 
tardseed had to tell the minister he was 


^easeblossom and ^^ustardseed 


beaten, and so he was brought back 
to the Home.” 

“ He likes the Home, Peaseblos- 
som? ” 

“ He’s not particular about the por- 
ridge and the errands, but he prefers 
them to the beatings. He’ll never live 
with any man again — never ! ” 

“ Never? ” 

“ No, he’s going to run away! ” 

“ And I must do the same, fairy. 
It’s later than I thought,” and King 
Oberon laid aside his crown and ermine 
cloak, and glanced out at the Charity 
Home. 

“ What color hair has Mustardseed, 
fairy? ” 

“ It’s the color — the color of his 
[ 94 ] 


King Oberon's Visit 


crown,” said Peaseblossom, absently. 
Then awakening: 

“ King Oberon, do you ever wish a 
wish? ” 

“Wish? Oh, frequently, and to-day 
in particular I seem to be full of wishes, 
fairy.” 

“ Then you may wish on my magic 
money. Wish something very, very 
nice, because it’s sure to come true, 
you know. I wished for Mustardseed’s 
sword, and it came, and now I’m wish- 
ing that the fairy who sent me this 
magic money will carry me off to his 
castle when Nanna goes. Do you think 
he will? ” 

“ Such strange things happen in 
fairy-land, — there’s no telling.” 

[95] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


“ Kneel, King Oberon ! ” 

King Oberon dropped before the 
magic bill, and closed his eyes. Rev- 
erently he bowed his head, as if the 
moment were far more to him than 
child’s play. Softly Peaseblossom re- 
placed his crown, and waved her 
magic wand; softly came her invoca- 
tion: 

“ ‘ Wish, wish, oh, wish, away ! 

I wish your wish may come some day ! ’ 

“It’s done!” whispered Peaseblos- 
som. “ Now kiss my wand! ” 

“ I would far rather kiss you, sweet 
dreamer.” Peaseblossom glanced down 
at the kneeling King. Already one arm 
had slipped around her, and his eyes 
were as eloquent as any pleading lov- 
[96] 


King Oberons Visit 


er’s. Peaseblossom looked into them 
and felt their spell. 

“ I love you,” she said, simply. 
“ Nanna will love you. Will you come 
and play with me again? ” 

“ I will gladly come again, dear 
fairy.” 

Lightly, softly the little rosebud 
mouth met his. 

“ That kiss is for your wish ! ” she 
said, and King Oberon snatched her to 
his heart, and buried his face in her 
waves of golden-brown hair. 

“ ‘ And a little child shall lead them 
— And a little child shall lead them.’ 
She is leading, oh, Lord, she is lead- 
ing!" 

“ There are dewdrops in your eyes! ” 
[ 97 ] 


^easeblossom and ^Mustardseed 


laughed Peaseblossom. “ They should 
be in the cowslip’s ear.” 

“No more rites, fairy, I must go at 
once. It’s late, and I have an errand 
next door.” 

“ Next door? Next door is the 
Home,” said Peaseblossom. 

King Oberon looked into the inquir- 
ing brown eyes, absently. 

“ Who is the nicest boy next door, 
fairy? ” 

“ Mustardseed,” said Peaseblossom. 

“ Good night, dear heart. Look for 
me, and I shall surely come again.” 

He was gone, and Peaseblossom 
stood alone in the room, glancing 
thoughtfully at her spangles. “ The 
Home,” he had said. And why should 
[98] 


King Oberons Visit 


he want to know who was the nicest 
boy? 

And then, like the portent of some ill 
magician, came the thought — terrify- 
ing in its intensity — sweeping all else 
from her mind. She tore out of the 
room, and flung herself over the ban- 
isters, crying: 

“ King Oberon ! King Oberon ! Don’t 
— don’t you take away my Mustard- 
seed! ” 

But it was too late. The door had 
closed, and King Oberon was already 
climbing the steps to the Home. 

Lore. 


[ 99 ] 


CHAPTER IV 


MUSTARDSEED AND THE CASTLE 


errands were done, and 
M C^\ Mustardseed was in an 
J upper chamber tomahawk- 
ing the pillows with his 
new sword when the bell rang. There 
were plenty to open the door, for the 
halls and stairs were swarming with 
children, so the ring of that bell in no 
wise concerned him. 

In full Indian regalia was Mustard- 
seed, from his three long head-plumes 
plucked from the feather duster to a 
[ 100 ] 


^^ustardseed and the Castle 


rusty hatchet and the glorious new 
sword that dangled from his belt. 
Right valiantly he thrust, for the pil- 
lows were lying in pools of gore, and 
the chairs were upside down in the 
throes of death. 

Now and then he paused in his 
onslaught, and sheathed his dripping 
sword, only for the joy of drawing 
forth its shining blade in a fresh burst 
of savagery. 

The battle was over, and the victor 
standing on a chair viewing his vain- 
glorious person in the looking-glass, 
when the news came. 

“ Tom ! ” said a whispering voice, so 
unexpectedly close as to startle this 
vainglorious victor, “ Tom, did yous 
[ lOI ] 


T^easeblossom and t^ustardseed 


hear the bell? It’s a man come to look 
at us kids.” 

“What kind of a man?” said Mus- 
tardseed, addressing the glass’s reflec- 
tion. 

“ He’s huge ! ” said the boy, pointing 
indefinitely to the ceiling. 

^‘Well?” queried Mustardseed. 

“Well, he wants a boy! that’s the 
‘ well ’ of it. He’s talking with Nurse 
in the parlor; Pete heard through the 
keyhole. Some boys have gone in 
a’ready — most likely we’ll be called 
next — shouldn’t wonder but yous got 
took.” 

Mustardseed drew his sword and 
turned, but before he had made one 
thrust at his surprised enemy, the par- 
[ 102 ] 


t^ustardseed and the Castle 


lor door opened, and Jack’s summons 
rang through the hall. Jack, never hav- 
ing been disillusioned as to the joys of 
being bound out, scampered merrily off. 

Mustardseed leaped down from the 
chair, no longer valiant, only a very 
pale and thoughtful little boy. 

‘‘ He was huge! ” Jack had said, and 
the farmer had been huge! There was 
not a moment to lose. 

Mustardseed crossed to the closet and 
reached down his hoardings, seventeen 
cents tucked away in hiding for just 
this — this that might happen in a 
moment. Seven were new and shining, 
Nanna’s gift on his last birthday. They 
had laid the foundation to his present 
wealth. 


[ 103] 


T^easehlossom and f^ustardseed 


Into the corner of a scarlet bandanna 
Mustardseed secured these, then stepped 
cautiously into the back hall. Yes, the 
table was set for supper, and the coast 
clear ! 

It took but a moment to creep 
down, and to snatch some bread and 
one bun ; the bun had four raisins, Mus- 
tardseed observed, as he secured his 
pelf in the bandanna, in the corner op- 
posite the coins. 

He tightened his belt, and un- 
sheathed his sword, and felt of its 
blade admiringly. He was ready, — 
money, food, weapons. The man might 
choose him, he was prepared to run 
away. No, not quite, — there was 
Peaseblossom. With a stub pencil and 

[ 104] 


<^ustardseed and the Castle 


the pinked edge of a paper-bag, he 
scrawled : 

“ Dear Peaseblossom : — I am tooken 
— but I have the sord — I love you 
with every breff — I will come back. 

“ Mustardseed.” 

He slipped it into the red bandanna, 
and dropped the whole behind the 
bureau and listened. He had listened 
before, but now the sound was unmis- 
takable. He heard the parlor door 
open; he heard the rise and fall of 
voices, and his breath came short. 

“ Tom? ” There it was — and the 
summons froze him. He tried to an- 
swer, but his tongue wouldn’t move. 

[ 105 ] 


^easeblossom and ^JliCustardseed 


He glanced down at his feet and won- 
dered why they wouldn’t move, ei- 
ther. 

“ Tom!” 

“ Yes’um,” but so hoarse and low no 
one heard. 

“ Tom!” 

“ I’m coming — ” 

“Come quickly, sir!” said Nurse. 
And he did come quickly, all askew, 
with the hatchet dangling at his back, 
and the feathers floating over his ear, 
and presented himself in the parlor, 
with his hand on the sword. 

“ Shake hands with the gentleman,” 
said Nurse. And he shook hands gal- 
lantly, because it was his nature to be 
brave. 


[ io6] 


(y^ustardseed and the Castle 


“ Are you Mustardseed or Tom, my 
little man? ’’ 

“ I am Peaseblossom’s Mustardseed, 
sir.” 

“ Would you like to come with me 
to live, and be my little boy? ” 

There it was, the fear, all in one 
short sentence. That was just the way 
the farmer had asked him, too. He 
had said “ no,” then, and later had got 
a beating for the truth. It would be 
equally idle to say ‘‘ no,” now. So he 
said ‘‘ yes,” and bit his lip, and turned 
away to the window where Peaseblos- 
som sometimes stood. 

So Mustardseed went; went in the 
stocky best boots, in the coarse, gray 
ulster which was much too large, and 
[107] 


T^easeblossom and <^ustardseed 


the little cocked hat which was much 
too small; went with Mr. Otis, or King 
Oberon, as you choose to call him; 
went rebelliously, though the rebellion 
was all in his little heart. 

It had been a very busy day at the 
big stone house, and its dainty little 
mistress had been not wholly sad, for 
a hope had been born in her heart that 
brought unexpected joy and consola- 
tion. All day the maids had fluttered 
in and out refreshing a dainty little 
room, while she had tenderly folded 
away tiny, half-worn garments, with 
a smile on her lips that seemed like a 
benediction. 

Now all was in readiness for the new 
and unknown occupant, and she was 

[ io8] 


o^ustardseed and the Castle 


waiting in the dimly lighted parlor, 
peering out now and then to listen. 
Binks had harnessed some time ago, 
and had driven to the train to meet his 
master. 

She could hear the shriek of the 
whistle, the faint and fainter puffing 
of the steam, and knew that the train 
had stopped and was unloading. 
What was it bringing her? If there 
was hope in her heart, there was fear 
also, and the two struggled for mastery. 

They were coming ; she could see the 
carriage lantern glimmer in and out 
among the branches; could hear the 
champ of the horses’ bits, and the snap 
of the whip, and the grit of the wheels 
on the gravel. 


[ 109] 


l^easehlossom and S^ustardseed 


Now the coach door had opened, and 
her husband was waving to her in the 
window. He was alone; and the mo- 
ment’s disappointment served to show 
her the strength of her hope. 

No, he was* whispering to the but- 
ler, and the butler had gathered some- 
thing in his arms, and was bearing it 
tenderly up the steps, and through the 
door, and down the polished hall, — 
and she was leading the way. 

They laid him on the satin couch, 
in his coarse, gray ulster, and his 
stocky best boots, and she bent over the 
little cocked hat, and pushed back the 
damp, tumbled hair and — loved him. 

The butler tiptoed out and closed the 
door. They two were left alone — 
[ no ] 


^^ustardseed and the Castle 


alone with the child. His arm was 
about her, and they stood looking down 
upon him. No words were needed. 
For him — his manner already had 
something of the pride of possession; 
for her, one glance had brought the 
mother-love to her tender face. 

Almost like a fairy-tale, in truth, 
seemed the afternoon’s experiences, as 
he told of the marvellously lovely child 
he had encountered, and his part in 
her fairy rites. His eyes filled, and his 
voice hushed with instinctive reverence 
as he described Peaseblossom in her 
pathetic little room, and how through 
her he had chosen Mustardseed. 

Mustardseed stirred and sighed, and 
they unlaced the stocky best boots, 

[III] 


^easeblossom and ^Jt^Custardseed 


and slipped off the little cocked hat, and 
unloosed the coarse gray ulster, and 
down dropped the red bandanna that 
had been buttoned in over his breast, 
the brilliant red bandanna with its sev- 
enteen coins, its bread and bun, and the 
note to Peaseblossom. They opened 
the little pinked note, and together 
read: 

“ Dear Peaseblossom: — I am tooken 
— but I have the sord — I love you 
with every breff — I will come back. 

‘‘ Mustardseed.’’ 

“ Dear, loyal little heart,” said Mr. 
Otis, winking hard as he bent over the 
child. “ You shall, indeed, go to her 

[ 


f^ustardseed and the Castle 


again, and she shall visit here, for her- 
self, for you, for us all, dear little fairy 
Peaseblossom.” 

Perhaps Mustardseed heard, for he 
stirred again, and rubbed his eyes, and 
suddenly sat up very straight, and 
gazed sleepily into the faces opposite, 
smiling faintly. “ I dreamed I was in 
fairy-land,” he said, “ and I heard 
Peaseblossom calling.” 

He thought it might be Queen 
Titania, the hands held out to him 
were so very white, so he reached out 
too, and was nestled against folds of 
scented lace ; it seemed like a whiff from 
fairy-land, and the cheek against his 
was as soft as Peaseblossom’s. He 
blinked out from his sweet nest at the 
[ ” 3 ] 


T^easeblossom and t^ustardseed 


sparkling lights, and smiled vaguely 
when another pair of arms, very strong 
arms these, took him, though he still 
held one soft hand, and carried him 
through polished halls, up shining 
stairs, and into a very toadstool of a 
room. 

If Mustardseed fell asleep in dream- 
land, he awoke in it, too. It took whole 
moments to realize that this dainty 
white room was really there, and that 
however long one looked it would not 
turn into the Charity Home. Then, 
suddenly, he spied the red bandanna 
on the bureau, and remembered. He 
must be up at once to plan for his 
escape. Surely the day would bring 
his opportunity. 

[ ” 4 ] 


cM^ustardseed and the Castle 


But before Mustardseed had fairly 
made up his mind to tumble out of 
bed, a rosy-cheeked maid tumbled him 
into a bath where he swam like a fish. 
This had never happened at the farm- 
er’s. He had sometimes helped to 
wash the dogs, but no one had ever 
washed him. He felt grateful for the 
attention, and admired the maid’s cap 
and apron chivalrously. She helped to 
dress him in his shabby suit, and even 
buckled on his sword. By the time 
Mustardseed reached the dining-room 
he was in a very bewildered state in- 
deed. 

Yet, he shook hands with Mr. Otis, 
as he had done the day before, and he 
kissed her, because she was so like 

[115] 


T^easeblossom and f^ustardseed 


Titania in the pink tea-gown, with its 
perfume and folds of lace. The butler 
drew out a high serving-chair and lifted 
him up. Mustardseed felt that his 
dignity was lowered in proportion to 
the height of the chair, yet the butler 
undoubtedly meant to be kind, so he 
thanked him. 

Mustardseed had not intended to eat, 
but when one’s stomach is very empty, 
and the temptation great, very strong 
minds have been known to yield. Be- 
sides, thought Mustardseed, it were 
wise to be well provisioned before start- 
ing on his journey, if not without, at 
least within, for the bun and the bread, 
contrasted with present rations, did not 
appeal to him. 

[ ] 


f^ustardseed and the Castle 


So he ate hungrily, and talked inces- 
santly, because the atmosphere of the 
sunny room and his own sunny tem- 
perament impelled him. 

He admired the lawns, and inquired 
after the health of the swans — if they 
died easily, and if they were hatched 
by lamplight. He thought the straw- 
berry bed looked shabby, and offered to 
weed it at once. He had sometimes 
saved himself a beating at the farmer’s 
by just such timely offers, and after 
all, he thought, to be an honest run- 
away he should at least work for his 
breakfast. Now and then he glanced 
at Mr. Otis. The farmer’s manners 
had never lasted so long. As for Mrs. 
Otis — but then she was Queen Titania. 

[ 117] 


T^easehlossom and t^ustardseed 


He never remembered meeting any one 
like her before. 

He intended to leave as shortly after 
breakfast as plans would permit, and 
regretted Mr. Otis’s kindly proposal 
that they inspect the grounds. Yet, 
she was going, so Mustardseed ac- 
cepted politely, and ran back to the 
house for her shawl, and carried it on 
his arm. His bewilderment was grow- 
ing like a magic mushroom, for such 
idling trips had never been known at 
the farmer’s. Still, he regretted the 
delay to his own plans. He should 
not go till the strawberry bed was 
weeded, and that might stretch so well 
into the day, that it would be dark 
before he started. 

[ii8] 


i^ustardseed and the Castle 


Nevertheless, in the charm of that 
lovely May morning, in the charm, too, 
of a very full stomach, Mustardseed 
forgot his unrest, or perhaps his un- 
rest was turned to bewilderment, for 
the ground’s inspection failed to show 
a hen or a brooder on the place ! There 
seemed very little a boy could do aside 
from weeding, and when the inspection 
was over, and she had returned to the 
house, Mustardseed hastened to the 
strawberry bed, and dropped on his 
knees beside it. 

Here, a little later, Mr. Otis found 
him, and stood for awhile unobserved, 
glancing down at his experienced little 
weeder. 

“ Mustardseed,” he said, suddenly, 

[ “ 9 ] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


stepping into view, “ Mustardseed, it's 
such a fine day, and I have some er- 
rands in the Centre, suppose I have 
Binks harness up the span, and we’ll 
take in a bit of the country? ” 

Mustardseed sat back on his 
haunches, and pushed aside his golden 
hair. 

“Who’ll weed?” he questioned, 
faintly. 

“ My gardener — he generally does 
the weeding.” 

“ Don’t you want me to — to work? ” 
fainter still. 

“ No, at least not this kind of work 
— there’ll be your school and — ” 

Mustardseed scratched his head 
vaguely, and rose to his feet. 

[ 120 ] 


cM^ustardseed and the Castle 


“ What have you tooken me out of 
the Home for? ” he said. 

“ To love, Mustardseed.” 

Mustardseed gazed absently into the 
face before him, shading his beautiful 
clear eyes with a grimy little hand. 

“ Seems like as if I was with Pease- 
blossom, and this was fairy-land, and 
you was King Oberon,” he said. 

“ King Oberon? I have been called 
King Oberon, you know.” 

Mustardseed stepped nearer and 
nearer still. 

“ Do you know Peaseblossom ? ” he 
whispered. 

“ Peaseblossom ! bless your heart, I 
knew her before I did you ! ” 

Mustardseed glanced dreamily from 
[ I2I ] 


T^easeblossom and cM^ustardseed 


the house to the swans, from the swans 
back to the house again. 

“There’s so much glass,” he said, 
“ I might have known it was a castle. 
’Spose you’re sort of double like my- 
self. Mr. Otis is just for every day, 
and King Oberon is your Sunday-go- 
to-meeting name?” 

“ Just so.” 

“ ’Spect then, you harness up those 
swans and ride through the air? ” 

“ But I’m Mr. Otis now, you see, and, 
of course, I prefer the span. It’s com- 
ing now. Skip up to the house and 
wash your hands. I’ll drive round to 
the door.” 

Mustardseed did skip, and did wash 
up as directed, though he was unaware 
[ 122 ] 


v^ustardseed and the Castle 


of his motions. His head was feeling 
very, very queer, and he wasn’t sure of 
anything — nothing at all — not even 
of running away. That had grown 
strangely vague and shadowy, so he 
dropped the red bandanna, with its 
coins and bun, behind the little white 
bureau. He should have to wait till 
his head would think, for now it 
wouldn’t think at all. 

Not even the gallop of those mag- 
nificent horses, nor the crack of Mr. 
Otis’s whip, nor the military position 
of the liveried Binks on the back seat 
served to awaken him. 

To be sure he sat up very straight, 
and folded his arms as Binks did, but, 
like Binks, he had very little to say. 

[ 123 ] 


T^easeblossom and cM^ustardseed 


He still felt queer, very queer. He 
felt queer when Mr. Otis pointed to 
a handsome stone building with a glori- 
ous flag floating from the top, and said : 

“ You’ll go to school there. Mustard- 
seed.” 

Mustardseed glanced back, and felt 
that a boy who could fail in his lessons 
beneath his country’s flag would be 
bold indeed. He felt queer when Mr. 
Otis shook his whip at a dear little 
ivy-grown bower, and said, “ We shall 
go to church there, Mustardseed.” He 
had never been ‘‘ we ” at the farmer’s. 

The Centre was very much like a 
city, and everybody seemed to know 
Mr. Otis, and to bow. Once he stopped 
the carriage, and shook hands with a 
[ 124] 


cM^ustardseed and the Castle 


gentleman, and said, turning to Mus- 
tardseed : 

“ Mr. Graham, this is my boy/’ And 
Mustardseed unfolded his arms, and 
jumped to his feet, and lifted the little 
cocked hat, and Binks — sneezed. 

But the Centre brought no relief to 
Mustardseed’s queer feelings. On the 
whole he felt queerer than ever, so 
many things happened in a bunch. 
First, he sat in a barber’s chair, and his 
long, ragged hair was trimmed to a 
neat Dutch cut, which was wonderfully 
becoming to his little pinched face. 
Next he disappeared in a very large 
store. When Mustardseed went in 
he was Mustardseed, feeling queer, of 
course, but still Mustardseed in his 
[ 125 ] 


T^easehlossom and ^Mustardseed 


stiff, brass-tipped boots, the coarse, 
gray ulster, and the little cocked hat. 
When he came out, certainly he no 
longer looked like Mustardseed of the 
Charity Home, for his shoes were tan, 
his suit a very stylish one with baggy 
trousers and a leather belt, his cap a 
red tam-o’shanter, and his coat had 
eight gilt buttons and a star ! Mustard- 
seed stood in front of the long store 
mirror, and felt that Mustardseed had 
gone. 

Even the home trip failed to rouse 
him, though the country was very 
beautiful, and Mr. Otis talked his mer- 
riest; but Mustardseed heard vaguely, 
and saw vaguely, except the tan shoes. 
They were absorbing. 

[ 126] 


f^ustardseed and the Castle 


Even Queen Titania’s joy at his 
transformation, and her sweet caress, 
which softened his little face beauti- 
fully ; even the surprises of an un- 
dreamed-of dinner failed to clear Mus- 
tardseed’s head. It was not till Mr. 
Otis put the question directly that the 
situation cleared itself. 

“ Mustardseed,” said he, as that 
young gentleman stood in the library 
before an engraving of a famous battle, 
stood with his tan feet very far apart, 
and his hands behind him, “ Mustard- 
seed, I’m going to the city this after- 
noon to see Peaseblossom. She’s near 
the Charity Home, as you know. If 
you like I can take you back again.” 

Mustardseed faced suddenly about, 

[ 127] 


T^easeblossom and ^^ustardseed 


and the quick tears sprang into his eyes 
as he glanced at his baggy little trou- 
sers and the tan shoes. He stooped and 
unfastened them. It was all a dream, 
then, just like the plays with Peaseblos- 
som, and now he must take off his 
wings and spangles, for the Charity 
bell had rung. 

Mr. Otis looked down from his tow- 
ering height to the little man before 
him, looked with hungry hope at the 
misty eyes, and at the brave little 
mouth that quivered. 

“ Perhaps you would like to stay,” 
he said, eagerly, “ perhaps you would 
like to stay, Mustardseed? ” 

Mustardseed looked up through his 
tears and smiled delight; then his little 
[ 128] 


i^ustardseed and the Castle 


pinched face clouded again, — “ There’s 
Peaseblossom ! ” he sobbed. 

“ But, my little man, you shall go to 
her as often as you like, and she shall 
visit here. Think how dearly she will 
love to play fairies on the lawn. Still, 
Mustardseed, choose for yourself. I 
am sure you would never learn to love 
me if I made you stay against your 
will.” 

There was no moment’s doubt now 
about Mustardseed’s will. He leaned 
over to refasten the beloved shoes, when 
he heard a step, and glanced up quickly 
to the folding-door. She had crept to 
its threshold, and stood looking down 
on the small, fair-haired child swal- 
lowed up in the library chair. 

[ 129] 


T^easehlossom and ^^ustardseed 


The faint, sweet odor floated to him; 
the folds of lovely lace, and the softly 
tinted gown, affected him as did the 
fairy plays — the wings, the spangles, 
and the crown. The beautiful had been 
starved out of his life, but the love of 
it was there — a hungry love. 

His glance swept over her in open ad- 
miration, till his gray eyes met hers 
tenderly, lovingly: 

“ Seems though the juice had got 
squeezed into my eyes,” he whispered, 
“ and every time I look I have to love 
you.” 

“ Dear heart, then you will stay, and 
be my little henchman? ” 

Mustardseed jumped to his feet and 
girded on his sword afresh. This was 
[ 130] 


^M^ustardseed and the Castle 


fairy-land, of course, but seven hard 
years had taught Mustardseed to be 
practical. Fairy-land was delightful 
while it lasted, but Peaseblossom’s 
fairy-land, he well knew, had a painful 
trick of ending abruptly. There must 
be no doubt about the permanency of 
this one. 

He turned toward his host with a 
slightly apologetic air, as if, though 
businesslike, he regretted being forced 
to look a gift-horse so closely in the 
mouth. 

“ Sir, is to-day just like it always is 
here, or is this a sort of King Oberon 
day? ” 

“ It’s the usual kind of a day, Mus- 
tardseed. I’m just Mr. Otis. I never 

[ 131 ] 


T^easeblossom and S^ustardseed 


shall be King Oberon, you know, ex- 
cept when Peaseblossom is here.” 

“ You’ll fetch her on the swans? ” 

‘‘ I’ll fetch her — yes.” 

“Then I’ll stay! I’ll give you my 
bun, and my money, too, because I 
sha’n’t need them now to run away. I 
was going to, you know,” concluded 
Mustardseed, in a confidential whisper. 

“ It’s a compact, then,” said Mr. Otis. 
“ Shake hands ! ” and Mustardseed ex- 
tended one, and nestled the other in 
hers, and shook hands cordially, with 
neither fear nor rebellion in his little 
heart. 

“ I’m going now, and I shall see 
Peaseblossom, as I said. Dear little 
fairy, perhaps she is unhappy about 
[ 132] 


cM^ustardseed and the Castle 


her Mustardseed. I may be late, be- 
cause I shall wait to see Nanna to find 
out when her little maid can visit. 
While I’m gone I shall leave things to 
you, Mustardseed. I expect you to 
have an eye to business, since you’re 
going to be my son. You’ll be the only 
man on the place, you see, except the 
servants, and they don’t count.” 

Mustardseed swelled visibly, and 
glanced over his distinguished person. 

“ I’ll have that good-for-nothing gar- 
dener weed the strawberry bed ! ” he 
said. 

Mr. Otis bit his lip, and turned an 
involuntary chuckle into a sneeze as 
he hastily consulted his watch. 

There’ll be just time for you to 

[ 133 ] 


T^easehlossom and ^Mustardseed 


write Peaseblossom a note. Make 
haste,” he said, pointing to the mahog- 
any desk. 

Mustardseed flew and straddled the 
arm of the library chair, and writhed 
in an agony of reflection. The scented 
monogram paper, the gold-chased pen, 
and the crystal ink-pot were so divert- 
ing! Then, like an inspired poet the 
words flowed thick and fast. 

“ Dear Peaseblossom : — I am in 
fairy-land — there is much glass — I 
have etten heaps — my shoes shine like 
the crown — you don’t weed — I am 
coming to see you — King Oberon will 
bring me. 

“ Mustardseed.” 

[ 134] 


CHAPTER V 


PEASEBLOSSOM AWAITS MUSTARDSEED'S 
RETURN 


(D 


I L E Mustardseed lay 
asleep on the satin couch, 
Peaseblossom, with her lit- 
tle face pressed against the 
lighted window, was mourning, for the 
news of Mustardseed’s flight had at 
once swept through the Charity Court 
and up into the shabby room. The 
news reached Nanna just as she was 
turning the key in the latch, and it 
made her weak limbs weaker to climb 
those attic stairs. Her darling little 

[ 135] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


Peaseblossom, how would she meet 
this grief? 

She met it with the unreasoning 
despair of seven summers. Mustard- 
seed was gone. Her precious, precious 
Mustardseed. Who would play fairies 
with her now, crowned and winged? 

It was the first unhappy night the 
shabby little room had ever seen, 
doubly unhappy, inasmuch as Nanna’s 
home-coming had promised unusual 
joy; for there was the afternoon’s 
strange visitor, his role as King Ob- 
eron, and his wishing on her magic 
money. All that was turned to pain. 
King Oberon had lost his crown, and, 
in the role of the dreaded farmer, had 
carried away her Mustardseed to beat. 
[ 136] 


T^easehlossom jiwaits ^Mustardseed 


Peaseblossom refused to be com- 
forted. The mysteries of Nanna’s bag 
were unavailing, and no fairy-tale 
could be found sufficiently diverting to 
take the pain out of the brown eyes. 
Unseasonably early it was when Nanna 
buttoned up her nightie, and, worn out 
with grief, Peaseblossom buried herself 
in bed. There had not even been the 
good-night prayer. She had lost faith 
in “ Dear Lord from whom all bless- 
ings flow.” 

The next morning, as Mustardseed 
lay in the dainty little bed, wondering 
why on earth he couldn’t make it look 
like his cot in the Charity Home, 
Peaseblossom lay in her trundle-bed, 
wondering why the sun seemed so dull, 

[ 137] 


T^easeblossom and ^Mlustardseed 


and why she felt so queer and sad. 
Something had happened, and she 
couldn’t think what. A shout in the 
Charity Court told her. Mustardseed 
was gone! 

Then, idly through her. mind drifted 
the story of Mustardseed’s checkered 
life. 

She thought of the wicked farmer, 
of the brooders, of the sickly little 
chicks that died just because a lamp 
was turned too low or high, of the 
weeds, of the backaches, of the beat- 
ings, beatings, beatings! of the wind- 
mill, of the minister, and of Mustard- 
seed’s return. And then suddenly, 
with all the startling force of the un- 
expected, came that thrilling climax: 

[ 138 ] 


^easeblossom jJwaits ^JUCustardseed 


“ But suppose another man should 
come to take a boy, and should choose 
you? ” 

“I’d never go, — I’d run away!” 

Why had she not thought of that 
before? 

Peaseblossom leaped out of bed 
and flew to the window. Of course, 
he would run away, and might at that 
very moment be in the Charity Court 
below. She ignored Nanna’s caution, 
and stood on the little red cricket, and 
leaned perilously far over the sill. It 
was seven, for the factory whistle was 
blowing, and the children of the Char- 
ity Home were filing in to breakfast. 
Mustardseed was not among them. 
Never mind, he would come! There 

[ 139] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


was absolutely no doubt about Mus- 
tardseed’s doing the thing he said he 
would. 

Nanna was up and dressing, in- 
wardly stunned, outwardly thankful for 
this happy and exciting solution. It 
would be too cruel to dash such a 
happy hope, and who could tell, after 
this first hard day had passed, what 
might not happen? 

The brave little Pilgrim, who had 
faced all the dangers of the perilous 
streets, should be greeted royally, 
Peaseblossom thought. There must be 
a grand spread, and Nanna, knowing 
that its selection and purchase would 
consume whole hours, toiled along the 
hot, dusty streets to her work, that 

[ 140] 


T^easehlossom jiwaits cM^ustardseed 


Peaseblossom might have the joy of 
what should have been her car-fare. 
Not all the saints are in heaven; a few 
are left to walk this earth with weak- 
ling feet. 

Peaseblossom spread the glittering 
coins on the bed-spread, and danced 
in rapture. They seemed fabulous 
wealth to one to whom a penny was 
well worth the having. She would 
buy — what would she not buy? 

In a flutter of excitement Peaseblos- 
som tidied up her little room, peering 
every now and then into the Charity 
Court below. She rather hoped Mus- 
tardseed would not come now till her 
glorious plans were perfected, but, if 
he should come in her absence, there 

[ 141 ] 


^easeblossom and S^ustardseed 


was the geranium to greet him with 
its bloom pressed close against the 
window-glass. She should be quick, — 
as quick as one possibly could be with 
a fluttering best hat, a pink ruffled sun- 
shade, and a large and venerable hand- 
bag. 

Snuffles accompanied this Little 
Mother Hubbard on her way to 
market, and his little mistress had need 
of his companionship. Not all joy was 
this journey. There was the China- 
man’s den to be braved, — braved twice 
by six flying feet. Yet, after long mo- 
ments of deep consideration, the pur- 
chases were safely made, and as safely 
borne to their nesting, — only one 
chocolate mouse the worse for the trip. 

[ 142] 


T^easehlossom j^waits ^J^Custardseed 


He had lost an eye in the flight past 
the Chinaman’s den. 

Peaseblossom spread forth her feast 
in festive array, and stood off in rap- 
ture. Two diamond cakes ran right 
through the prism of colors from a pale 
lemon at one point to a deep chocolate 
at the opposite. A work of art those 
rainbow cakes — lost art; the two red 
apples were shined to a dazzling finish, 
for Peaseblossom had spit and pol- 
ished, and spit and polished again, as 
did the apple- woman at the corner; the 
variegated sticks of pipe-stem outdid 
the cake in coloring, and, as for the 
chocolate cigars! they were the grand 
finale of the feast, and almost smoked 
when you touched them. 

[ 143 ] 


^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


These absorbing purchases had con- 
sumed the whole morning; the noon 
lunch was over, and even the after- 
noon well spent before Peaseblossom, 
in her crown and spangles, seated her- 
self on her toadstool to wait. There 
had been a great deal to do, not only 
in preparation of her own glories, but 
for Moth and Cobweb. For they, un- 
faithful fairies, had rumpled their 
spangled skirts and crushed their 
golden crowns, and it took time — to 
say nothing of paste and paper — to 
right them. 

Now, at last, all was in readiness, 
King Oberon and Queen Titania 
crowned and reigning; Snuffles snor- 
ing, innocent of his doom; Moth and 

[ H4] 


T^easeblossom Jlwaits (^ustardseed 


Cobweb hiding their glories behind 
the pink toadstool, and Peaseblossom 
in waiting. She was used to waiting. 
In a moment school would be out, and 
Mustardseed — 

She had been a very practical little 
housewife all the morning, but now her 
wings had borne her off to fairy-land. 
She glanced at the pillow King, and 
the sight recalled her guest of only the 
afternoon before. She saw the stranger 
as she saw him then, crowned and en- 
throned in Nanna’s chair. He had 
made such a fine King Oberon, and 
she had loved him. Why had he taken 
away her Mustardseed, her real 
changeling child? It was just like the 
story Nanna read. Why, just exactly 

[ 145 ] 


^easeblossom and <^ustardseed 


like it! for there King Oberon had 
wanted a changeling child, too! 

Peaseblossom sprang excitedly to 
her feet, and glanced vaguely about 
the room. Perhaps he was King Ob- 
eron! and that was why he wanted the 
changeling child ! Why had she not 
thought of that before! 

If fairies were walking up and down 
the streets and sending her magic 
money, might not one call and spend 
the afternoon? He was coming again, 
too, he had said. They might both 
come, he and Mustardseed — any min- 
ute! — now! 

Peaseblossom glanced at the banquet 
spread forth on the little red cricket. 
Would there be time to buy another 
[ 146 ] 


^easeblossom ylwaits ^M^ustardseed 


cake, another apple, another cigar? 
There was time perhaps, but no money. 
She glanced at the magic bill and pon- 
dered. No! she would not touch that, 
and spoil future hopes for present 
plans. She could go without; there 
was enough for her guests, and they 
were coming ! 

She heard the bell ring, the front 
door close, and steps ascend. They 
had reached the first landing and were 
turning; the second flight — and once 
they stumbled — and now the tread 
had paused before her door. Pease- 
blossom flung it back, and stood, as 
she had stood before, crowned and 
smiling. 

“ Well, well, bless my boots, if here 

[ 147 ] 


^easeblossom and S^ustardseed 


isn’t my fairy all ready to greet her 
King! ” 

‘‘Where’s Mustardseed? ” 

“He’s coming later; there was so 
much to do ‘ killing cankers in the 
musk-rose buds,’ and such like, you 
know, he couldn’t come to-day, so 
he sent you this.” 

Peaseblossom took the imposing let- 
ter, smelt of its scent, and examined 
the monogram with care. With King 
Oberon’s assistance the inspired scrawl 
was read: 

“Dear Peaseblossom: — I am in 
fairy-land — there is much glass — I 
have etten heaps — my shoes shine like 
the crown — you don’t weed — I am 
[148] 


T^easeblossom Jlwaits ^Mustardseed 


coming to see you — King Oberon will 
bring me. 

“ Mustardseed.” 

Peaseblossom glanced with dreamy 
delight from the letter to the reader. 
It was true, then! This giant was 
King Oberon, and her precious Mus- 
tardseed was in fairy-land! 

Abruptly Peaseblossom retired from 
view, instantaneously to emerge with 
fluttering wings and waving wand, as 
she dropped on her knees before him. 

“ Hail ! hail ! hail ! oh. King ! That 
isn’t in the book, but the stories are 
so much alike, I’ve put it in,” she whis- 
pered. 

“ What stories, fairy? ” 

[ 149] 


T^easeblossom and cM^ustardseed 


Ours, and the one Nanna reads me. 
You see, last night I didn’t know you 
were King Oberon, and I was sad be- 
cause Mustardseed was gone; and then 
all at once it popped into my mind that 
Mustardseed would come back, because 
he said he would. And then my mind 
kept right on popping, and all of a sud- 
den I knew you were the real King 
Oberon, and that was why you took 
the changeling child ! ” 

‘‘ Such a wise fairy! ” said the King. 
“ Now you must tell me all about it, 
and then I’ll invite you to supper. Be- 
hold ! ” exclaimed Peaseblossom, lifting 
the covering from her feast. 

King Oberon was visibly overcome, 
also the fairy, and only his heroic self- 

[ 150] 


T^easeblossom ylwaits c^ustardseed 


denial saved the feast from instant 
despatch. 

“ But you may smoke,” urged the 
tender-hearted hostess. “ Do smoke, 
King Oberon.” 

King Oberon accepted with pleasure, 
scratched an imaginary match, and in- 
serted the chocolate cigar in his mouth. 

Peaseblossom was charmed. “ Do 
lady fairies smoke. King Oberon? ” 

“ Oh, it’s quite the rule, quite the 
rule, I may say, in fairy-land. Gen- 
erally the fireflies light them for us.” 

The rosebud mouth closed daintily 
over the second cigar, and then Pease- 
blossom outdid her King. In default 
of the flrebug, she tiptoed airily up, 
and touched the cigars end to end. 

[151] 


T^easeblossom and <^ustardseed 


Again the blood pounded in his ears; 
again came the repression. She was 
so bewitchingly lovely. 

“ Now/’ said Peaseblossom, peremp- 
torily, “ begin, King Oberon ! Tell me 
about your glass castle, and Mustard- 
seed’s gold shoes, and — and — ” 

King Oberon puffed merrily away at 
his cigar, and glanced thoughtfully at 
the insistent fairy at his feet 

“ Little Maid of the Mist,” he said, 
slowly, “ Little Maid of the Mist, 
which had you rather I’d do, tell you 
about my castle, or — or take you there 
to see? ” 

Over went the toadstool cricket, 
under the bed rolled two smoking 
cigars, as Peaseblossom threw herself 
[ 152 ] 


l^easeblossom j^waits (^ustardseed 


on the King, and smothered him in her 
arms. 

“Take me there! Take me there, 
King Oberon ! ” 

King Oberon unclasped the little 
hands, and folded them in his own. 
Whose eyes were these golden-brown 
ones like that they so strangely moved 
him? They were like — like hers! he 
thought, with a pang. Like hers — 
the owner of the little red shoe. 

“And Nanna, will Nanna let you 
go? ’’ said the King, recalling the pres- 
ent. 

“ Nanna will let me go to fairy-land, 
I’m sure.” 

“ Suppose I stay and ask her? What 
time — ” 

[ 153] 


T^easehlossom and o^ustardseed 


“ She’s coming early, because last 
night I was sad, you remember. How 
surprised she’ll be ! ” mused Peaseblos- 
som. 

Nanna was indeed unprepared for 
the stranger within her gates, but her 
astonishment at the towering person- 
age who rose when she entered was 
turned to pleasure, for one glance at 
his face revealed to her the giver of 
that magic bill. She would never for- 
get that face, as the lamplight flashed 
across it, its sympathy had been so 
tender, and its smile like a benedic- 
tion. 

“Nanna!” said Peaseblossom, ex- 
citedly, “ this is the fairy who has car- 
ried off Mustardseed ! ” 

[ 154] 


T^easehlossom Jlwaits ^^ustardseed 


The towering fairy lifted his crown, 
and extended his hand, and gently 
pushed Nanna into his chair. She 
seemed weak. Nanna was unusually 
weak, for the day had been warm, the 
long walk a severe strain, and the 
thought of Peaseblossom’s grief had 
unnerved her. 

But now the hard day was over, 
and she at rest, with what she loved 
best clasped safe and happy in her 
arms. 

“Nanna!” interrupted the little 
voice, as King Oberon apologized for 
his strange freedom, and explained his 
errand all too slowly, Peaseblossom 
thought. 

“Nanna, I want dreffly to go. You 

[ 155 ] 


T^easeblossom and ^Mustardseed 


most certainly will let me go to fairy- 
land with this King? ” 

Nanna glanced from the pleading 
King to the pleading fairy, and smiled, 
and kissed the little, dimpled chin, and 
Peaseblossom, knowing that Nanna’s 
smile never yet held denial, flew in 
a flutter of excitement to the pink toad- 
stool to relate the glorious news to 
Moth and Cobweb. 

Relieved of this little pitcher, Nanna 
and her guest grew confidential. She 
told him how well Mustardseed would 
repay his devotion; her brave, loving 
little Mustardseed! how glad she was 
to know he had at last found anchor- 
age out of troubled waters. She told 
him of Peaseblossom, her lovely little 
[ 156 ] 


T^easehlossom j4waits ^J^Custardseed 


orphan, and of herself — not much — 
but he read between the lines. Then 
the Charity bell rang, and Peaseblos- 
som tripped back, and the confidence 
was ended. 

“ It is settled, then,” said Mr. Otis, 
rising. “ I am to borrow this fairy 
some day, and I will drop you a line 
that you may know beforehand. Per- 
haps I shall not see you; it will be in 
the daytime that I come; perhaps I 
shall not see you again. But one never 
can tell — and if you should need a 
friend — you will remember that you 
have one?” 

Nanna glanced up; there was the 
same soulful smile. Instinctively she 
laid her blue-veined hand in his. 

[ 157] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


“ I will remember, King Oberon,” 
she said, and laughed merrily at the 
name, and the laugh made her cough 
painfully, and Peaseblossom ran for a 
glass of water, and the King held it 
to her lips. 

In as much of a brown study was 
King Oberon, threading his way 
among scurrying crowds to the train, 
as he had been that memorable night 
weeks ago, when he nearly annihilated 
the slight little woman at the street 
corner. 

He was thinking of her now as he 
stepped aside and drew out a memo- 
randum book. Far to the back, prom- 
inent in its framing of many blank 
leaves, he wrote: 

[158] 


^easeblossom Jlwaits ^M^mtardseed 


“ Be to other souls the cup of strength 
in some great agony,” and below: 

“ Wine. 

“ Vacation. 

‘‘ More magic bills.” 


[ 159] 


CHAPTER VI 


A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM 


O' 


^RIX/ says he, ‘ ye might 
retire to the garden,’ 
says he, ‘ ye might re- 
tire to the garden to re- 
cover ! ’ and, being’s I was reared by 
the aristocracy, butler to a lord, I 
wasn’t going to disgrace my cloth by 
any onseemly mirth, so I took the lib- 
erty of retiring, Binks, because — I 
should have busted there.” 

The butler wiped his perspiring brow 
and glanced pityingly at his compan- 
ion. 

[ i6o] 


ji (Midsummer t^(jght*s Dream 


“ It’s mighty high goings-on you’re 
missing these days, Binks, being an 
outdoor man, mighty high goings-on. 
Suppose ye know the latest? ” he ques- 
tioned. 

“ Belikes I’ll know better when 
you’ve pumped long enough to rid out 
the air. Some wells is so durn dry 
it takes a deal of pumping.” 

Binks glanced good-naturedly out of 
the corner of his green eyes. They 
were old cronies, he and the butler, 
and the butler’s stories, as he well 
knew, were much like a cow’s cud. 
They needed slow and contemplative 
chewing. 

“ Binks ! ” continued the butler, hav- 
ing apparently chewed this cud to his 

[i6i] 


T^easehlossom and ^J^Custardseed 


personal satisfaction, “ Binks, Mus- 
tardseed is legally adopted ! ’’ 

“ My eye ! ” ejaculated the coachman. 
“ The well has deep water, hey? ” 
queried the butler, slyly; “ deep water, 
Binks, when it’s pumped? ” 

“ It’s deep enough to drown a man, 
Trix — I’m a-gasping.” 

“ I knowed something was in the 
air, but I didn’t rightly tumble till two 
hour ago. By then the library was full, 
and the door closed. I was a-patrolling 
of the hall, wondering what them swal- 
low-tailed men was up to, when long 
comes Mr. and Mrs. Otis arm in arm, 
and in they went. 

“ ‘ I’m not to be disturbed for the 
present, Trix,’ says he. ‘ Murder will 
[ 162 ] 


ji (Midsummer Right's Dream 


out/ says I, and down the hall I 
went. 

“ Then, after a considerable spell, I 
heard the clanging of a sword, and I 
turned. It was Mustardseed. You 
might ha’ took him fur the nobility, 
he looked that fine. He had on a linen 
suit the color of his eyes, and mighty 
fine appearing eyes they is, too. Al- 
ways sort of makes me feel oncom- 
fortable when he looks squarely at ye, 
— feel like as if I’d been a-robbing hen- 
roosts. A-down the hall he come, cau- 
tious-like, because I warned him. He 
was a-driving something with a gay 
ribbin, — couldn’t make out what till 
the critter was clean under my eye. 

“ ‘ Mustardseed,’ says I, ‘ what on 

[ 163] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


airth be ye doing wid that mud-tur- 
tle!’ 

“ ‘ It isn’t a mud-turtle, Trix,’ says 
he, ‘ it’s Feebus ! ’ 

“ ‘ Feebus ! ’ says I. ‘ I never met that 
critter at the Zoo — nor yet at the 
cirkus.’ 

“ ‘ He isn’t a critter, Trix,’ says he. 
‘ He’s a god.’ 

“‘Holy Mother of Mary!’ says I, 
‘ you’re blaspheming, Mustardseed ! ’ 

“ ‘ Oh, no, Trix,’ says he, ‘ Feebus 
isn’t a Bible god. Is Father Otis 
within? ’ 

“ ‘ He is within, your honor,’ says I, 
because he sometimes plays Prince, 
and I humor him, ‘ but his orders is 
not to be disturbed.’ 

[ 164 ] 


ji f^idsummer Right's Dream 


“ ‘ I never disturb him, Trix; he said 
so. Please open the door.’ 

“ That’s how I come to put my ear 
to the keyhole. ‘ Listen ! ’ says I, ‘ till 
I see be they through.’ 

“ ‘ One Mustardseed — legally named 
Thomas Weston, age, seven years, four 
months — orphan of the Charity 
Home — ’ 

“ ‘ Mustardseed, they’re powerful 
deep in business; wait till I listen 
again.’ 

“‘I — Richard Otis — being in sane 
mind — do legally adopt — as my son 
and heir — said Thomas Weston — or- 
phan of the Charity Home — set my 
hand and seal in presence of witness 
thereof — ’ 


[165] 


T^easehlossom and ^JliCmtardseed 


‘‘ ‘ It’s done ! ’ says I, weak-like. ‘ I 
hear the pens scratch.’ 

“ ‘ They’re through, then,’ says he, 
and before I could reason wid him, he 
swung back the door, and guided in 
his turtle. 

“"Father!’ says he, joyful, ‘Father 
Otis,’ says he, smiling, ‘ I want to show 
you the new play I made out of the 
story you read me last night. This is 
Feebus, and the shell’s his car, and I’m 
driving him over the dawn! ’ 

“ ‘ This is the little man in question,’ 
said Mr. Otis, husky-like, for his voice 
had teared over. ‘ Gentlemen, allow 
me to present my son, Richard Otis, 
Jr.’ And my throat up and gave such 
a gulp, I like to ha’ lost the rest, but 

. [i66] 


ji (Midsummer Right's Dream 


I seen Mustardseed shake hands very 
cordial with the men, and then of a 
sudden he stood sort of puzzled. He 
didn’t rightly understand the words 
when they was spoke, and now they 
came back to trouble him. He glanced 
at um all, inquiring with them eyes of 
his’n, and then he spied her, and his lip 
trembled. 

“ ‘ Aren’t I your little Henchman any 
more? ’ he sobbed. 

“ Seems like she could ha’ swal- 
lowed him fur love, which is a mercy 
when one remembers how she was took 
when her own went. So she cleared 
it all up, and Mustardseed shook hands 
again, and I went out fur the wine and 
glasses. 


C 167 ] 


T^easeblossom and cM^ustardseed 


“ When I come back, he was lean- 
ing again her explaining Feebus, and 
she was a-driving him. I set down 
the wine, and I went to her furst, 
knowing it ain’t her principles to drink 
spirits in publick. 

‘‘ ‘ Will it be just water, madam? ’ 
says I. 

‘‘ ‘ Just a glass of water, thank you.’ 

“ I noticed Mustardseed start, and I 
seen Mr. Otis smile, but I didn’t rightly 
catch on till I fetched the water and 
come back wid it. He met me at the 
threshold, Mustardseed did. His face 
was the color of a gobbler’s comb, and 
his sword was drawn. I glanced down 
on him amazed, and he reached up his 
hand indignant fur the water. 

[168] 


Jl ^M^idsummer Slight's Dream 


“ ‘ Are you her Henchman, too? ’ he 
said. 

“ I like to ha’ choked wid holding in 
my dignity, and I see the men was took 
the same, and all was studying a battle 
picture amazing hard, wid their backs 
turned, and Mr. Otis, he was fit to 
split, and he edged up to me, seeing 
my color was getting apoplectic, and 
says he, kindly: 

“ ‘ Retire to the garden, Trix, if ye 
like, retire and recover ! ’ S’pose it’s 
long of this, the occasion comes to- 
night. Is it a lawn party you call it, 
Binks?” 

“ Search me ! Burn if I know what 
yous call it, no more the high cocko- 
lorums as has been going on in the 
[ 169] 


T^easeblossom and ^^ustardseed 


stable the last week, wid young uns 
enough and to spare. Oh, you’re miss- 
ing it, being an indoor man these days, 
Trix!” 

“ And the hammering, Binks? ” 
“Hammering! Wait till yous see 
the rhododendron bed to-night, and 
ye’ll think ye’re in the twitters. ‘ Is it 
chicken-coops they’ll be? ’ says I. ‘No, 
Binks,’ says Mr. Otis, ‘ the fairies are 
going to dance, and these air their 
toadstools.’ ” 

“ Toadstools? ” 

“ That’s what he said — and the lan- 
terns! wait, ye see the dozens I’ve 
hung at the risk of me neck. I thought 
I should be drove to drink with the 
frills on the blamed things. There’s 
[ 170] 


Jl f^M^idsummer 3\[jght's Dream 

more yet, and the chairs — it’s only 
yous indoor men can afford to loaf. I’ll 
have to be leaving ye to recover by 
your lonesome, Trix.” 

Thanks to this exchange of confi- 
dences, Trix, the indoor, and Binks, 
the outdoor man, were fairly well 
posted as to the principal events of the 
day past or in prospect. 

Far better posted were they than 
Mustardseed. As for that young gen- 
tleman, not till he had been forbidden 
to approach within definitely proscribed 
limits of the rhododendron-bushes had 
his suspicions been aroused. 

Now this fiat was sufficient to mag- 
nify this heretofore innocent shrubbery 
into exaggerated importance. Some- 

[ 171 ] 


T^easehlossom and o^ustardseed 


thing was going to happen, clearly, and 
something grand. Nothing except 
grand things ever did happen here. 

In fact, Mustardseed had never felt 
quite normal since that first memo- 
rable morning, when the little cocked 
hat and gray ulster had mysteriously 
disappeared, and left him turned into 
a veritable Prince Charming. He 
glanced over his starched person, and 
smiled approval. Love had done a 
great deal for Mustardseed. 

Like a happy day-dream it had all 
been, and now to-day was going to 
prove memorable, too. It had begun in 
the library. Just what had happened 
there was not at all clear, even yet, to 
Mustardseed, but it certainly was 
[ 172] 


ji c^idsummer 3^ight^s Dream 


highly desirable, for Trix had treated 
him with marked respect since, and had 
twice said “ your honor ” without play- 
ing. 

Certainly Mustardseed would have 
spent much more thought on the mys- 
teries of the library and the rhododen- 
dron-bushes, if another thought had 
not swallowed up all the room in his 
mind. He had been told last night. 
She had whispered it with her good- 
night kiss. He had fallen asleep with 
it; he had wakened with it; he had 
confided it to Phoebus ; he had blown it 
across the dimpled lake to the six white 
swans; he had whispered it deep in the 
honeyed heart of a pink hollyhock; he 
had shot it clear to the blue heavens 

[173] 


T^easehlossom and ^M^ustardseed 


with his bow and arrow — Peaseblos- 
som was coming! 

Father Otis had already taken the 
train to fetch her, and Mustardseed had 
sentinelled the wall of the driveway 
for patient hours. From this coign of 
vantage much had been seen, for nu- 
merous delivery teams had inquired 
the way, and Mustardseed had pointed 
to the house with his sword. Certainly 
something grand was going to happen. 
Not all these packages could be reduced 
to terms of reasonable certainty, but 
one, at least, could. This was a bucket 
of noble proportions, packed with ice 
and salt. Mustardseed knew the nature 
of the diamond within this rough, and 
modestly computed that he could build 

[174] 


Jl c^idsummer 3^ight's T)ream 


a habitable ice-cream palace for himself 
and Peaseblossom with the contents 
therein. 

A little puff of smoke, and a dash of 
wheels recalled Mustardseed, and he 
hastily consulted his dime watch. Yes, 
it was the train, and Binks was hasten- 
ing to meet them. She was coming! 
coming! coming! 

Yes, Peaseblossom was coming, com- 
ing in the fluttering best hat, in a pink 
ruffled dress that rivalled the sunshade, 
coming as fast as steam and smoke and 
whistles could bring her; coming with 
her brown eyes wide with wonder, and 
one little silk-mitted hand clasped tight 
in the King’s. 

Mustardseed saw the pink sunshade 

[175] 


T^easeblossom and ^Mustardseed 


first, and his loyal little heart beat in 
rapture. He had carried that himself 
many a day, when they were husband 
and wife and he had shaded the chil- 
dren. She had spied him now, and was 
waving it frantically, and the King was 
holding on her ruffled skirts, and Mus- 
tardseed was brandishing his sword as 
perilously. 

‘‘ Oh, Mustardseed ! I am so glad to 
see you ! ” 

One hazardous leap from the wall 
had landed him in the carriage, and 
now his saucy little mouth had touched 
her dimple. It seemed only yesterday 
that he had kissed her, because he was 
late with the errands, and she had fas- 
tened on his wings and crowned him. 
[ 176 ] 


ji (Midsummer Right's Dream 


He could see the room, with Snuffles 
and the pillow King and Queen; the 
chocolate mice on the cricket ; the gera- 
nium at the window, the Charity Court 
below, and — the Home! It seemed 
so real. His eyes swept over the lawns, 
as if to dispel the vision; over the satin 
horses and the military Binks; over 
him. Father Otis, and he sidled nearer 
and nestled his hand in his. 

Peaseblossom’s glance was occupied, » 
too. She had expected fairy-land, but 
nothing her brown eyes had ever con- 
jured was comparable to this, — these 
shadowed lawns, this dimpling lake, 
the arch of dreamy sky, — there had 
been so little sky from her attic win- 
dow, — and this lovely queenlike lady 

[ 177 ] 


^easeblossom and ^Mustardseed 


fluttering down the lawn to greet 
her. 

Mustardseed assisted her to alight 
with the same gallantry he had paid 
when she was Cinderella and he was 
the Prince come to woo her; and Binks, 
who had hastened to add his services, 
withdrew timely, remembering the but- 
ler, and appreciating for himself that 
Mustardseed would brook no poaching 
^on his own preserves. 

Peaseblossom shook out the ruffles 
of her crumpled skirt, threw down her 
unclosed sunshade, drew up the stylish 
silk mits more snugly, and offered a 
tiny white hand, while her brown eyes 
travelled over the yearning face with 
growing confidence. 

[178] 


Jl (y^idsummer Right's Dream 


As for her, it was hard to glance 
away. Like King Oberon, those brown 
eyes held her, — only she knew why 
their velvet depths were magic. 

“ Mustardseed ! ” said Father Otis, 
laying a gentle hand on each lovely 
little head, “ Mustardseed, you remem- 
ber I said when Peaseblossom came I 
should be King Oberon. To-night, 
after supper, as soon as it is dark, we 
shall all turn into fairies, and I shall 
take you off to fairy-land.” 

Fortunate for Mustardseed that the 
duties of host eased the tension of the 
afternoon. As it was, he had serious 
misgiving as to the sun’s intention ever 
to set behind the clump of spruces, and 
inquired of Binks if it had ever been 

[ 179] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


known to retrace its steps, instead of 
properly sleeping. 

Yet it was joy, for Peaseblossom’s 
joy was infectious. He introduced her 
to Binks and to Trix, to the satin 
horses and the yellow cow, to the six 
white swans, to the pink hollyhock, and 
to Phoebus. She sailed his boat and 
shot his arrow, and forgot her aim in 
gazing at the tinted heavens. Unlike 
the past, he did the crowning, weaving 
a daisy wreath that set like jewels 
on her lovely hair, and for wings he 
harnessed her into a flowery chain, 
and drove her like Phoebus over the 
lawn. 

It was eight by the clock; supper 
was over, and the ice-cream palace had 
[180] 


ji cM^idsummer Right's Dream 


passed from an outward dream to 
an inward reality. Mustardseed was 
winged and crowned, and Peaseblos- 
som, with the Queen’s help, was near- 
ing a gorgeous completion. 

As for the Queen herself, she was 
regal in her flowing robe and jewels, 
and the King habited worthily for so 
fair a mate. Moth and Cobweb, neigh- 
borhood mites, their tiny persons still 
further diminished by snug black tights, 
were astride the footboard, while a fur- 
ther following of fluttering fairies were 
constantly arriving. 

Peaseblossom’s eyes were ablaze with 
wonder; Mustardseed’s mind had again 
refused to work. He only knew there 
was a constant rumble of wheels on the 

[i8i] 


T^easehlossom and ^M^ustardseed 


driveway, and that once he heard Binks 
shout: 

“ To the Rhododendron-bushes ! ” 

Aside from this, he could only gaze 
admiringly at the swarm of lovely 
winged creatures about him, and for- 
get that his mind wouldn’t think! 

It was dark when the King and 
Queen, with their winged train-bearers, 
stepped majestically forth. Over the 
lawns, past the strawberry bed, clear to 
the dark spruces where the sun had 
been so long to set, he led them, only 
the tread of tiny feet, and the flutter 
of untried wings to break the quiet. 
Not till the spectral spruces had been 
stealthily rounded did the glory burst 
upon them, and then the fairies forgot 
[182] 


Jl c^idsummer 3\Cig fit's Dream 


their court manners, and hastily 
dropped the trains. 

From where came this fairy-land of 
winking lights that shot like firebugs 
in and out among the green? from 
where these little gloaming toadstools 
that seemed to beckon to each fairy to 
hide herself therein? and this softly 
intoned music, was this the music of 
the spheres? and from whence this 
flashing silver light that woke the flow- 
ers to startling beauty, and shone re- 
splendent over lawn and lake, embroid- 
ering them with leafy shadows, now 
of light and now of shade? 

Mustardseed tiptoed over to Pease- 
blossom and clasped her eager hand in 
his. They had been there so many, 

[183] 


T^easeblossom and ^^ustardseed 


many times together, but never in real- 
ity like this. 

All too soon the King’s command 
sent the fairies to their duties, majes- 
tically the train advanced, gained the 
magic circle, and the play began, to two 
“ A Midsummer Night’s Dream ” in 
truth. 

From the King’s request for the 
changeling child to the Queen’s refusal, 
and final enforced consent, it passed in 
perfect sequence. There was Puck with 
his magic love-in-idleness ; Bottom 

with his ass’s head so realistic that 
Peaseblossom shook in her spangles. 
There was Mustardseed, invaluable as 
a prompter for those who had forgotten 
their lines, and last, there was Pease- 
[184] 


ji cM^idsummer Right's Dream 


blossom with her Philomel song and 
dance. 

Who that saw her that summer’s 
night ever forgot her, weaving over the 
sleeping Queen her magic spells? 
Winged and spangled, with silver 
shadows playing hide-and-seek in her 
mist of floating hair; gazing with im- 
penetrable depths in those wonder- 
wakened eyes over an audience she did 
not see; singing, softly as an echo, 
dreamily as a dream; dancing with 
such fairy grace in those airy motions, 
the little feet seemed to twinkle on 
the rhododendron blooms themselves, 
winged and fleet as Apollo. 

Alas! if King Oberon had been be- 
witched with only an attic room for 

[185] 


T^easehlossom and <^ustardseed 


the setting of this poem, what could 
be said of the victim now? 

The King’s counter drug and the 
Queen’s normal awakening restored 
this estranged couple to an amicable 
agreement, and the play ended with a 
grand finale of dancing fairies, flashing 
lights, and dreamy music. 

Presumably this was the end, but in 
a moment the King and Queen were 
setting forth with their miniature court 
in following. In and out among the 
shadows, clear to the lake’s edge, they 
wended mysteriously. Here, at the 
magic wave of his wand, a canopied 
raft, wreathed in daisies, burst into 
light; two unstable thrones were 
mounted, and the fairies grouped them- 

[i86] 


^ ^^idsummer 3^ight*s Dream 


selves about them. On the floor lay 
Bottom, in his ass’s head; before Queen 
Titania knelt Mustardseed; before the 
King, the fairy Peaseblossom, and, as 
the flash-light followed the raft, the 
breeze swept back her invocation, — 

“ ‘ Never harm, 

Nor spell, nor charm, 

Come our lovely lady nigh ; 

So, good night, with lullaby/ ** 

“ Hark ! ” said King Oberon, as a 
weird sound floated to the water simul- 
taneously with the extinction of the 
raft’s lights, “Hark! I hear the morn- 
ing lark! We must fly, fairies!” 

“ It’s Phoebus! ” whispered Mustard- 
seed, “ driving in the dawn ! ” 

“ It’s like Cinderella ! ” said Pease- 
blossom, “ when the clock struck one! ” 

[187] 


T^easeblossom and cM^ustardseed 


The raft landed, the borrowed fairies 
were conveniently lost, and restored to 
their parents by Binks, who, in a 
horned mask, played the goblin; while 
Peaseblossom and Mustardseed, by a 
circuitous route, were led away from 
a dream-dispelling audience and safely 
into the house. 

Here, with lightning despatch, all 
traces of fairy-land were removed, and 
the sprites tumbled into bed. Before 
King Oberon and Titania joined their 
guests, Peaseblossom and Mustardseed 
were safe in dreamland. 


[i88] 


CHAPTER VII 


NANNA’S CROWN 


lovely June night ush- 
m C^\ ^red in a long and trying 
J summer, but to Mustard- 
seed on his velvet lawns, 
and to Peaseblossom in her attic cham- 
ber, neither its length nor its heat was 
apparent. 

To Mustardseed it was a sweet, 
dreamy time, for love — like a magi- 
cian’s wand — was wakening wonders 
in this little Prince Charming ; to 
Peaseblossom it was no less sweet, an 

[ 189] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


inheritance that had been hers for seven 
sunny summers. 

Her trip to fairy-land had brought 
no disillusion to those golden-brown 
eyes, only a very fertile little mind had 
received rich food for fancy. Now the 
shabby carpet was a sloping lawn in 
truth; the bed a dimpling lake; Snuf- 
fles a swan; the dingy ceiling a tinted 
sky into which she shot innumerous 
arrows; and the geranium in the win- 
dow became a row of nodding holly- 
hocks studded with parti - colored 
gems. 

Even the dingy wall-paper was trans- 
muted through the alchemy of her im- 
agination. Let those brown eyes gaze 
vaguely through their long silk fringes, 

[ 190] 


^anna^s Crown 


and its scrawls at once became a pano- 
rama of that June night’s fairy dream. 
All was there, if only one would puzzle 
long enough to find it. 

She could see the flashing lights; the 
gloaming toadstools; the rhododen- 
drons in their spectral bloom; and 
troops of fluttering fairies ascending 
and descending about their King and 
Queen; even the dreamy music echoed 
sweet and clear, as if she held mem- 
ory’s sea-shell pressed against her lis- 
tening ear. 

In an equally dreamy mood Mus- 
tardseed drove Phoebus, or in a carnal 
moment slaughtered the daisies with 
his ever thirsty sword, or won glorious 
battles with a miniature fleet, bearing 

[ 191 ] 


T^easehlossom and <^ustardseed 


down upon the retreating swans with 
full-masted speed. 

Then, to match his practical duties, 
Peaseblossom had her round as insist- 
ent as before. There was Nanna’s ex- 
citing departure; Buzz eager for atten- 
tion; Snuffles more eager still; the 
geranium choking with thirst; Anna- 
bella May pining for an airing. There 
was the ragman to evade, or the blind 
peddler with his wheeling valise; or, 
perhaps, safely seated with Snuffles on 
the stone landing, she forgot Humpty 
Dumpty, and in her eager scrutiny of 
each unwary passer-by, hoped for that 
blundering fairy whom Nanna had 
encountered. 

So much for the morning. For the 

[ 192] 


^anna's Crown 


afternoon, the crown and wings were 
regularly donned, the feast spread 
forth, and, on her toadstool cricket, 
Peaseblossom sat in waiting. To be 
sure, Mustardseed rarely came, though 
the little French clock pointed insist- 
ently at the hour, and the shouts of 
the children in the Charity Court told 
her they were free. 

Still, there had been the joy of prep- 
aration, and another day would bring 
the joy of expectation, — two expec- 
tations ! for, if not Mustardseed, it 
might be the King, her real King 
Oberon. 

She loved him; Nanna loved him, 
too, she thought. Happy indeed was 
the home-coming when King Oberon 

[193] 


T^easehlossom and t^ustardseed 


had been her guest. His gifts were 
as mysterious as his person, but even 
proud Nanna had learned to accept. 

The memorandum, written in the 
crowded street in its framing of blank 
pages, had already borne fruit. The 
wine was a thing of the past; the va- 
cation was a thing of the past, too. 
Wily, indeed. King Oberon had proved. 

He had asked as a special favor that 
Nanna help his wife for a week, left in 
the lurch by an unfaithful seamstress, 
and Nanna had consented, anxious to 
give her services to one to whom she 
owed so much; consented gladly, and 
went without a thought of a trap. 

But her hand-bag of scissors and 
needle and thimble remained unopened 

[ 194] 


^anna's Crown 


for seven never-to-be-forgotten days. 
The moment she arrived, Mrs. Otis 
was opportunely taken ill, but plead 
recovery for the morrow; yet each 
morrow found her equally indisposed 
for effort, and she plead again for a 
companion on her drives, and walks, 
and hours of lounging. 

That week was as much of a dream 
to Nanna as fairy-land had been to 
Peaseblossom. She never forgot its 
beauty and peace, the charm of its 
lovely mistress, and the unceasing fore- 
thought of its master. It was sweet, 
strangely sweet, to be cared for. Never 
before in all her thirty years had it 
once happened. Well might she mark 
it with remembrance. 

[ 195] 


T^easehlossom and ^M^ustardseed 


‘‘ I shall never be able to repay you/’ 
she said at parting, with grateful tears 
in her eyes. 

“ I am Peaseblossom’s debtor. Her 
first smile made me debtor for life,” 
said the King. 

Winter followed summer, a long, 
severe winter, with banks of drifted 
snow, and days of cruel, piercing 
winds, but to Mustardseed and to 
Peaseblossom neither its length nor its 
cold was apparent. For Mustardseed 
skated where he had chased the swans; 
and coasted on a flying red sled where 
he had slain the daisies; and every day, 
with Mother Otis’s kiss fresh on his 
little red lips, he scampered away to 
school, to the handsome stone school, 
[ 196] 


3\Canna's Crown 


where to fail had seemed to him an 
insult to his country’s flag. 

As to Peaseblossom, the winter made 
no difference in her dreamland; it made 
no difference with Nanna’s going or 
Nanna’s coming. There was still the 
good-by kiss in the morning, and the 
exciting welcome of her return at 
night; once again there was the lighted 
window, and the little pilot gazing out 
of her beacon on the wintry street. 
Sometimes she watched the Charity 
Children filing in to supper. No Mus- 
tardseed was there, but his absence 
brought no pain. He was in fairy-land, 
her precious, precious Mustardseed, 
and in the summer, when the birds 
sang and the hollyhocks bloomed, she 

C 197 ] 


T^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


might go there again, said King 
Oberon. 

As for Nanna, the winter made a 
vast difference to her. The summer’s 
gentle zephyrs were kinder to her 
cough than this winter’s piercing 
winds, for now, not even the King’s 
wine would stop it. The needle was 
growing heavier, the stairs longer, and 
the end plainer to those brilliant eyes. 
Yet, each morning there was the part- 
ing smile, and each night the welcome 
return, with the day’s experiences to 
gild, the exciting hand-bag to unpack, 
the fairy-tale to be whispered into 
those questioning eyes, then the prayer, 
and bed, and dreamland. Then Nanna 
shaded the light, and raised the window- 
[ 198] 


^anna's Crown 


shade, and sat — sat hours gazing into 
the Charity Home next door. 

Once she did not go — twice — three 
times ! and then each morning it was 
a question whether the little sewing- 
bag would be packed or not. Pease- 
blossom thought it delightful to have 
Nanna all the livelong day, to read 
to, to sing to, to play with, to dine 
with, for she missed King Oberon 
sadly. 

He had come to say good-by, for a 
business trip was to carry him off 
ever so far for he knew not how 
long. 

That had been a delightful afternoon, 
for he had brought flowers and sweets 
from his castle, and had told rollicking 

[ 199] 


T^easehlossom and ^Mustardseed 


tales of Mustardseed’s doings. He had 
stayed, too, long after the bell of the 
Charity Home had sounded, so anxious 
was he to see Nanna. But Nanna was 
delayed, and King Oberon could only 
leave a note, and hasten to his train. 
Peaseblossom had anticipated the read- 
ing of that note, and great was her 
surprise at the sudden tears in Nanna’s 
eyes; greater still her surprise at the 
smile on her lips. It was very bewil- 
dering, this inconsistent combination, 
thought Peaseblossom, but she for- 
bore questioning, fearing the tears 
should triumph. 

That was ever so long ago. King 
Oberon’s call, so long that Peaseblos- 
som had lost count of the days, but 
[ 200 ] 


3^anna's Crown 


Nanna rarely left her now, and that 
was her comfort. She had grown de- 
pendent on this daily companionship, 
and no dreams would ever fill the void 
again. The joy of pouring the wine 
came very often, and the joy of dining 
came often, too. 

Mrs. Dix brought up Nanna’s meals 
on a tray, and Peaseblossom spread 
forth her china tea-set, and they dined 
in state, with Snuffles in attendance. 
It was very delightful, Peaseblossom 
thought, and far more exciting than 
packing Nanna’s sewing-bag in the 
morning, and welcoming her return at 
night, for Mrs. Dix kept fluttering in 
and out, and some of the ladies Nanna 
sewed for called, and brought surprises 
[ 201 ] 


T^easehlossom and ^M^ustardseed 


that put the mysteries of the little 
sewing-bag to shame. 

Then there was a strange man who 
came regularly. Peaseblossom, ever 
on the outlook for the giver of that 
magic bill, thought he might be a fairy 
in disguise, and in all probability Bot- 
tom. In an ass’s head he would look 
very like him, she thought, his feet 
were so large and his hands so hairy. 
She confided his credentials to this role 
in the dingy hall one day as he was 
going, and the confidence made them 
very close friends. 

Certainly it was all delightfully ex- 
citing, and Peaseblossom quite forgot 
that Nanna had ever left her. She was 
forgetting King Oberon, too. She 
[ 202 ] 


^anna's Crown 


would never wait patiently on her toad- 
stool again for this chance guest, when 
she had grown used to one who will- 
ingly played her role at a moment’s 
bidding. Nanna made such a fine 
Queen Titania! She wished King Obe- 
ron could see her once lying back 
among her pillows, crowned and smil- 
ing. 

Alas ! little Peaseblossom ! When 
King Oberon saw her, Nanna was ly- 
ing back among her pillows, crowned 
with a noble life, and smiling. 

It had been a sullen winter day, with 
a searching east wind that shrieked 
through the Charity Court, and rattled 
the blinds and windows, yet Pease- 
blossom enjoyed it. It seemed very 
[ 2t)3 ] 


T^easeblossom and cM^ustardseed 


cozy in the attic room, with Buzz and 
Snuffles and Nanna, and the spangled 
skirts they together had made had 
winged away the morning. 

Now lunch was over, and the joy 
of arraying Moth and Cobweb in their 
new finery stole hours of the afternoon. 
The day was already waning before 
Peaseblossom laid aside her family 
cares and gazed out at the storm. 

Even then it seemed pleasant, for the 
little fairy snowflakes that dashed 
against the window charmed her im- 
aginative little mind into dreams of 
fancy. 

Aloud she wove her dreams to the 
delight of Nanna, — Nanna lying back 
among her pillows, crowned and smil- 
[204] 


3^annas Crown 


ing. Her eyes were strangely brilliant, 
and her cheeks the color of the King’s 
wine, Peaseblossom said. So sweet a 
cadence, the little voice, she felt it, 
rather than heard it, for Nanna’s mind 
was as feverish as her cheeks. Now 
it was on Peaseblossom’s father and 
mother, now on King Oberon, now 
on the Charity Home, and now on 
the lovely little dreamer in the win- 
dow. 

Not till the corner lamp burst into 
blaze did Peaseblossom turn away, — 
there were no more flakes to charm 
her fancy. This was the time of day 
when the Charity bell sounded, and 
Mustardseed fled, and she lighted her 
lamp and tidied the room for Nanna. 

[205] 


T^easeblossom and tS^ustardseed 


It was ringing now, and Nanna was 
holding out her arms. 

Peaseblossom crept into them, and 
laid her lovely little face against Nan- 
na’s, unconscious of any tears in those 
brilliant eyes. She had learned to love 
her gently, very gently, and even then 
Nanna sometimes coughed. 

‘‘ Peaseblossom, dear, it’s so long 
since we’ve seen King Oberon, I’ve 
’most forgotten him. Tell me about his 
castle, and Mustardseed, and your trip 
to fairy-land.” 

It was not long since Peaseblossom 
had recited it, — no longer than the 
night before, — but its delight was ever 
fresh to the little dreamer, and it fitted 
happily in at this day’s close. 

[ 206 ] 


^anna's Crown 


Nanna listened, listened feverishly, 
with the little fairy clasped close to her 
heart, while across the sweet story 
rang the bell of the Charity Home. It 
would always ring now. With cruel 
insistence it thrust itself into every 
peaceful moment, magnifying a fear 
she no longer had the strength to face. 
It was hard to go, hard to leave some 
rough hand to crush her fairy’s wings, 
hard to lose so brave a fight when love 
made it sweet to win. 

“Nanna, dear, it’s ended! It’s al- 
ways ended when the lark sings. Now 
I’ll light the lamp, and probably in a 
minute Mrs. Dix will bring up the 
supper.” 

“ Peaseblossom, dear, light your 
[ 207 1 


T^easeblossom and cM^ustardseed 


lamp, and then skip down and eat 
your supper with Mrs. Dix. Tell her 
that your fairy-tale has left me so 
dreamy that, like Bottom, I have an 
‘ exposition ’ of sleep come upon me.” 

Peaseblossom paused with her 
lighted lamp, and her little illumined 
face smiled roguishly. It would be 
such a joke to tell Mrs. Dix that 
Nanna, like Bottom the ass, had an 
‘‘ exposition ” of sleep come upon her ! 
Nanna smiled, too, and laughed a little, 
and the laugh made her cough, and 
Peaseblossom poured out the crimson 
wine, and left her. 

She was really asleep, Peaseblossom 
thought, when, a little later, she turned 
the door-knob softly and tiptoed into 
[ 208] 


V^anna^s Crown 


the room. There was no sound, save 
Snuffles’s peaceful snore, and now and 
then the sputter of the lighted lamp in 
the window. Peaseblossom crossed 
over and looked out. The storm was 
over, the streets piled with drifts of 
snow, and the sky ablaze with stars. 

“ Peaseblossom,” said Nanna, unex- 
pectedly, “ I’m not asleep, dear. I 
think you’ll have to put on your crown 
and wings and sing to me as you do 
when I’m Queen Titania. Is it dark 
out? ” 

“ It’s very dark, Nanna, — all but 
heaven.” 

So dark without, and dark within. 
All dark — but heaven. 

Then idly, with no thought save to 
[ 209 ] 


T^easeblossom and ^J^Custardseed 


divert the little dreamer from what any 
moment might be beyond her power to 
control : 

“ Do you see any one, Peaseblossom, 
dear? ” 

‘‘ I think there is a fairy under the 
lamp-post, Nanna.” 

“ What fairy, Peaseblossom? ’’ 

“ I think — I think perhaps it is 
King Oberon,” dreamily, “ perhaps it’s 
King Oberon waiting for a chance to 
take the child ! ” 

“ King Oberon waiting for a chance 
to take the child ! ” 

The idle words shot through Nan- 
na’s brain, and set it feverishly to work. 
She raised herself weakly, and gazed 
with wide, unseeing eyes about the 
[ 210 ] 


^anna^s Crown 


room. The Charity bell was ringing, 
ringing, but those idle words were 
louder than its dissonance: 

“ King Oberon waiting for a chance 
to take the child ! ” 

Ah, she had been blind, strangely 
blind not to see a promise in a sym- 
pathy too tender to trust to spoken 
words ! But now the child’s chance 
remark awoke the hope, and round 
that hope a thousand little nothings 
grouped themselves in proof. 

“ Peaseblossom! Get Nanna the 
pencil and paper ! ” 

There would be time, when the 
little back was turned, to wipe 
the crimson stain from her lips the 
effort cost her. And now the paper 
[211] 


^easeblossom and ^M^ustardseed 


was in her hand, and strength came 
with it. 

“ Friend — I never knew the mean- 
ing of that word till I met you — and 
now my little Peaseblossom — 

“ King Oberon, you said the little 
face in the window came as an ‘ amen ’ 
to a prayer in your heart. Is the prayer 
answered? Will my going answer it? 
If I thought that, I should go with a 
smile on my lips — King Oberon, I do 
smile — ” 

“ I knew you’d cough — I knew 
you’d cough, Nanna, dear. Shall I call 
Mrs. Dix? ” 

“ Dear heart, I shall soon be better. 

[ 212 ] 


^anna's Crown 


Put on your crown and wings, and I’ll 
be Queen.” 

Peaseblossom had never played fairy 
at night. It was very novel, and the 
lamp brought out the glint of her 
crown, and the gleam of her spangles. 
It was like that June night at King 
Oberon’s castle. 

“ Are you ready, Nanna? ” 

‘‘ All ready, dear,” with her face 
turned to the wall, and her head buried 
in the pillows. What if her eyes were 
closed? She saw it all — the waving 
wand, the fluttering wings, the dimpled 
arms, the fairy tread of those little feet, 
and the voice! no eyes were needed 
to bring that sweet cadence to her 


senses. 


C 213] 


‘Peaseblossom and <^ustardseed 


“ ‘ Philomel, with melody, 

Sing in our sweet lullaby ; 

Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby ; 

Never harm. 

Nor spell, nor charm. 

Come our lovely lady nigh ; 

So, good night, with lullaby.* ** 

So dark without, and dark within — 
but the heavens were light! and still 
the sound of the sweet little voice, 
thinner — clearer — farther going. 

Good night, with lullaby. Good 
night, with lullaby, answer echo. Good 
night — good night, answer echo — 
dying — dying — dying — 

“ Nanna, dear? ” 

“ She’s asleep,” said Peaseblossom. 
“ Nanna is asleep.” 


[ 214] 


CHAPTER VIII 

THE PRAYER’S “AMEN” 




' ANY windows sparkled 
with lights, for the master 
of the big stone house had 
returned from his business 
trip to the bosom of his family. The 
excitement and greetings were over, 
and the wanderer luxuriating before a 
glorious, sparkling fire, with Mrs. Otis 
beside him, and Mustardseed beside 
him, too, on the satin couch, the satin 
couch upon which he had lain months 
ago, in the little cocked hat and ulster. 

[215] 


T^easeblossom and ^^ustardseed 


In his gray velvet suit and patent 
leather slippers, Mustardseed looked 
very like Richard Otis, Jr. At least, 
he looked very little like Mustardseed, 
for his pale, pinched face was very full 
and fresh, and its bloom must have 
kissed away the freckles. Certain it 
is that his little, tip-tilted nose had 
only the tilt left, and his saucy little 
mouth had grown sweet with many 
kisses. As for his manners, they had 
always had an irresistible charm, and 
these months of proprietorship had 
added the charm of dignity: when it 
came to his heart that beat with the 
same loyalty whether under gingham 
or velvet. “ Nanna was right,” thought 
Mr. Otis, as his eyes met the gray 
[ 2i6] 


The T^rayeTs ''Jlmen 

ones with a glance of mutual love and 
understanding, “ Nanna was right; 
Mustardseed has richly repaid our 
devotion.” 

And brave little worker — how was 
she? And Peaseblossom, had time 
dealt kindly with his fairy? He had 
never meant to be so long without 
hearing of their welfare, but the magic 
bills and encouraging letters he had 
regularly sent he hoped had kept them 
happy. He had meant it to be so, 
and had purposely withheld his address 
for fear those magic bills should take 
a second journey. 

It was then, curiously enough, when 
his thoughts were on her, that Trix 
handed in the telegram; yet its receipt 

[ 217] 


T^easeblossom and <^ustardseed 


was not unnerving to the master, for 
business made them frequent. He 
opened it idly, and its envelope flut- 
tered to the floor. Mustardseed 
scooped it up on the tip of his sword, 
and watched the flames lick up West- 
ern Union Telegraph. When he 
turned back the telegram itself was on 
the floor, and Father Otis, with an 
ashen face, was looking down upon 
it, as if that innocent-looking paper 
had sent a bullet through his heart. 

Mustardseed stpoped, and picked it 
up, and laid it in Mother Otis’s out- 
stretched hand, and tiptoed back of 
her chair, and read: “ Nanna is 
dead.” 

“Mustardseed — fly! Get Binks to 
[218] 


The T* racer’s “jimen 


> f 


saddle — perhaps I can get the next 
train to the city.” 

A moment later it was all over. The 
happy family circle was broken, and 
Mustardseed behind the portiere, listen- 
ing to the retreat of a galloping horse, 
was wiping bitter tears on his velvet 
sleeve, and wishing that he might have 
gone to his Peaseblossom. 

As for Peaseblossom, she could not 
understand why she had not slept on 
her little trundle-bed beside Nanna, 
nor why, this bright, glad morning, 
Mrs. Dix’s eyes should be so red and 
sad. 

It seemed strange to tiptoe past 
her room without opening the door, 
but Nanna was asleep, Mrs. Dix said — 

[ 219] 


T^easeblossom and cM^ustardseed 


she had slept ever since Peaseblossom 
had sung to her. 

It was very novel dressing in the 
basement kitchen, more novel still to 
have such an early invitation to spend 
the day abroad. Peaseblossom almost 
forgot, in the excitement of going, that 
Nanna was asleep, and once she rushed 
up-stairs and very nearly opened the 
door, but she thought in time, and 
dropped on her knees and blew Nanna 
a kiss through the keyhole. 

It was late in the afternoon when 
the kind neighbor returned her, and 
Peaseblossom ran up the steps aglow 
with health and happiness. She had 
had such a grand time, and now she 
would live it all over again in its recital 
[ 220 ] 


The T^rayeTs “Jlmen 


99 


to Nanna. She would be awake, of 
course, and eager for her fairy’s return. 
There were such heaps to tell, and this 
pretty purple ribbon on the door- 
bell, she would tell Nanna about that, 
too. 

Snuffles met her in the hall, and ac- 
companied her to the attic room. 
The door was ajar, and Peaseblossom 
flung it back and ran joyfully in. In 
an instant the joy was gone. The 
counterpane was pulled up very snug 
and smooth, and the pillows were 
where they should be when they were 
not King and Queen, but Nanna? 
Where was Nanna? Why was Mrs. 
Dix rocking back and forth in Nanna’s 
little rocking-chair, sobbing? Why 
[ 221 ] 


T^easehlossom and t^ustardseed 


was Snuffles whining, and licking her 
hands with his cold, wet tongue? 

Peaseblossom glanced from the 
empty bed to Mrs. Dix sobbing; from 
Mrs. Dix to the empty bed, and fear 
flashed the truth to her mind. With 
sudden divination she understood. 
Nanna was gone! Her dear, dear 
Nanna, and now Peaseblossom would 
go into the Home. Nanna had said 
so many times, and now it had come. 
The little hands clutched convulsively 
at the pink print tier; the brown eyes 
filled and overflowed, and despair 
clutched her little heart, — the same 
despair she had felt when Mustardseed 
had gone. 

What good were Snuffles’s caresses, 
[ 222 ] 


The ‘Prayer’s “jimen 


>> 


or the arms held out to her? Pease- 
blossom glanced back to the empty bed. 
Was it only last night Nanna had lain 
there and she had sung her to sleep? 
It seemed so long, so long ago. 

From the bed to the chair, from 
the chair to the bed, Peaseblossom’s 
glance travelled aimlessly, travelled 
aimlessly over the magic bill flattened 
with its four crooked pins against the 
dingy wall. Then the brown eyes 
wakened, widened, and lo! out of her 
cave floated the beautiful Spirit of 
Dreamland and folded the little fairy 
in its mist! 

The little hand relaxed its hold, the 
brown eyes cleared, and the trembling 
lips smiled dreamily. She had for- 
[223] 


T^easeblossom and t^ustardseed 


gotten her prayers, and her wish on 
the magic bill! She would never go 
into the Home! Her wish on that 
magic bill would come true, as Mus- 
tardseed’s sword had come! 

Why, it was not sad — to fall asleep 
so sweetly and to wake up in heaven. 
Nanna had never said it was sad, for 
heaven was a sort of fairy-land. She 
must put on her wings and crown and 
wait for King Oberon to carry her off 
to his castle! That was her wish on 
the magic bill, and any moment might 
bring him! 

Mrs. Dix had kissed her and left, 
sobbing. Peaseblossom was not sorry 
to be alone. She distrusted Mrs. Dix’s 
black dress, and, besides, the charm of 

[ 224 ] 


The ‘Prayer’s “jimen 




her fairy rites might be broken by a 
sobbing presence. 

It was late, quite late, for the bell 
of the Charity Home was ringing. 
Peaseblossom lighted her little lamp 
and looked down into the Charity 
Court. The children were filing in to 
supper. Some night would Peaseblos- 
som be among them? 

Never! King Oberon would carry 
her off to his castle, if he knew, as he 
had carried off Mustardseed. 

If he knew! She had not thought 
of that — and he was away, ever so 
far off, perhaps! She must write at 
once and tell him what had happened. 
And who would carry her message 
fast, fast as — as Puck girdled the 
[225 ] 


T^easeblossom and ^Mustardseed 


earth? Ah! there was Nibble scam- 
pering across the floor that very 
minute, as if in answer to her question. 
Of course! Was it not mice that 
drew Cinderella’s coach when* she 
wished to go to the ball in very swift 
time? 

“ Dear King Oberon : — Nanna is 
gorn — Peaseblossom is ready.” 

There ! it was safely down the mouse- 
hole, and Nibble was scampering on 
his way. 

Now she would begin her charmed 
rites before the magic bill, and she 
must never once turn toward the door 
until — until — 


[ 226 ] 


The ‘Prayer’s “Jlmen 




Below in the parlor Mr. Otis stood 
looking with moist eyes at Nanna, 
Nanna lying back among her pillows, 
crowned with a noble life, and smiling. 
He closed the door gently, nodded to 
Mrs. Dix, and tiptoed softly up those 
attic stairs. 

The door was ajar, and he pushed it 
cautiously open and stepped in. The 
fairy, crowned and winged, was kneel- 
ing before the magic bill in a prayer 
half mystic, half reverent. The pil- 
low King and Queen were near, and 
Moth and Cobweb encamped beneath 
the pink sunshade. 

Just what incantation was going for- 
ward was not clear to see, for the 
words were softly spoken, and the 
[ 227 ] 


T^easehlossom and f^ustardseed 


crowned head bowed clear to the floor. 
But now this preliminary obeisance 
was over, the wand in motion waving 
over the magic bill, and the little 
priestess singing louder and clearer : 

“ ‘ Thus to go about, about ; 

Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine 
And thrice again to make up nine. 

Peace ! the charm’s wound up.’ ” 

With a bound Peaseblossom was on 
her feet and turning. Would her 
charm work? Would the King be 
there? She was facing him now, but 
the brown eyes were closed tight — 
fearful of what they might not see. 
Now they were opening, wider — 
wider — wider! and now the priestess 
had sprung into the King’s arms, and 
lay there crushed to his heart. 

[ 228 ] 


The T^rayer’s “Jlmen 




“ I knew you’d come ! I knew it ! I 
knew it! I knew it!” cried Peaseblos- 
som. 

“ Wise fairy,” said the King. 

“ My charm, and Nibble’s note 
brought you. King Oberon.” 

“ Your charm, and the note brought 
me. Fairy Peaseblossom.” 

“ Nanna is gone. King Oberon.” 

‘‘ She is at rest, little Peaseblos- 
som.” 

“ She is with God. Now when I 
pray I shall feel certainer of His hear- 
ing me. I shall never go into the 
Charity Home, King Oberon? ” 

“ Never, Fairy Peaseblossom.” 

‘‘ You have come to carry me off to 
your castle? ” 


[229] 


T^easeblossom and <^ustardseed 


“ This very night, to live with 
me — 

‘‘ Say forever and forever, King Ob- 
eron.” 

“ To live with me forever and for- 
ever, Fairy Peaseblossom.” 

Peaseblossom smiled, and glanced up 
at the face bending over her. “ I love 
you. Shall I kiss you. King Oberon? ” 
and King Oberon caught her to his 
heart, and her baby lips kissed away 
its emptiness and pain. 

“ And a little child shall lead them. 
And a little child shall lead them.” 
She is leading, oh. Lord, she has al- 
ready led. 

“King Oberon, there’s a note Nanna 
wrote you. Shall I get it? ” 

[230] 


The ‘Prater’s “Jlmen 


y y 


King Oberon tore open its seal, and 
Peaseblossom leaned against him, and 
coiled one little bare arm about his 
neck. She was thinking, thinking — 
of the Charity Home into which she 
would not go; of the King’s Castle; 
of Mustardseed, her precious Mus- 
tardseed, and of Nanna happy in 
heaven. 

She glanced at King Oberon reading 
Nanna’s letter. His eyes were full, and 
the tears streaming down his cheeks. 
Nanna’s eyes sometimes cried while her 
lips smiled. Peaseblossom leaned for- 
ward, and inspected the King’s mouth 
critically, but the lips were sad, too, 
and she wiped the tears tenderly with 
her little pink tier, and nestled closer, 
[231] 


T^easeblossom and cM^astardseed 


and laid her lovely little face against 
his. 


“Friend — I never knew the mean- 
ing of that word till I met you — and 
now, my little Peaseblossom — 

“ King Oberon, you said the little 
face in the window came as an ‘ amen ’ 
to a prayer in your heart. Is the 
prayer answered? Will my going an- 
swer it? If I thought that, I should 
go with a smile on my lips — King 
Oberon, I do smile — ” 

“ What kind hand tore off love’s 
bandage that you saw at last? Late, 
but not too late to wipe out my memo- 
randum! 


[232] 


The T^rayeTs ''jimen ” 


“ To ‘ be the cup of strength in some 
great agony.’ So sweet a recompense, 
to know I held the cup, dear Nanna, 
and that its draught left a smile on 
your lips.” 

“Take down the magic bill, King 
Oberon! We must go. But first, tell 
me your wish, else the charm might 
be broken.” 

“ I wished — I wished that in all 
good time I might own this fairy for 
my very own.” 

“ And I am your very, very own. 
King Oberon? ” 

“ My very, very own, to have and to 
hold — God bless you. Fairy Peaseblos- 
som.” 

“ It was a twin wish. King Oberon, 

[ 233] 


T^easeblossom and cMustardseed 


yours and mine. I should like always 
to keep the magic bill to remember me. 
May I fasten it up in your castle? ” 

“ Well frame it in gold, and hang 
it on the wall of your little toadstool 
room.” 

“ What color will the walls be, King 
Oberon? ” 

“ What color would you like them. 
Mistress Peaseblossom? ” 

“ I should like them pink, with dai- 
sies and hollyhocks growing up and 
down.” 

“ Your walls shall be pink. Fairy 
Peaseblossom, with daisies and holly- 
hocks growing up and down.” 

“It’s growing very light without. 
King Oberon.” 


[234] 


The T^rayeTs ''Jlmen "" 

“ It’s the moon, little Peaseblos- 
som, — 

“ ‘ The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, 
Gives the lustre of midday to objects below.* ** 

‘‘ No — it’s not the moon — it’s the 
dawn. Hasten, King Oberon! If the 
lark should sing, think what would 
happen ! ” 

That is how the shabby attic room 
lost its guardian fairy, and how the 
big stone house gained a presence 
needed. Now the luxuriously ap- 
pointed dining-room suffers no dis- 
count from a joy that should be there. 

The little Kate Greenaway plate is 
in daily service; the tiny red shoe on 
the mantel stands upright, as if Grief 

[235 ] 


T^easeblossom and v^mtardseed 


had braver hands to right it; and the 
little wind-rocked chair holds no more 
spectral forms. 

Sometimes the little head thrown 
back in laughter is golden, the eyes a 
confiding gray, and the chair’s rollick- 
ing rock clashes with the sun and the 
hilt of a polished sword; sometimes 
the little head is golden-brown, the 
eyes golden-brown, too, and the little 
outspread hands dimple and flash in 
the sun. 

The hollyhocks and the rhododen- 
drons bloom again, and Peaseblossom 
and Mustardseed spend glorious days 
dancing over the velvet lawns, driving 
Phoebus, shooting deathless arrows 
and sailing down the six white swans; 
[236] 


The Traye/s ''Jlmen 

or, crowned and winged, they roam the 
daisied fields together, following the 
setting sun, past the tall spruces, past 
the dimpling lake, on — and on — 
clear to where its dazzling disk dips 
into the Land of Nowhere. 


THE END 


[ 237 ] 







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